The Return of the Kin Killer
by Fashionista7
Summary: Maddie, Reid's preschooler-aged adoptive daughter, and her life are in danger when Maddie's biological father, Jason Müller, escapes from prison, with a previous enemy's help, to find her after learning the date of his execution. But when Maddie gets kidnapped by them, the BAU team must rush to find them and bring Maddie home and safe. This story has been RE-UPDATED!
1. New Beginnings

**Hello, everyone. Here is one of my first Criminal Minds fan fiction.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. Criminal Minds belongs to the creator, Jeff Davis. I don't own any of the original characters. ****I'm not going to lie, I'm über nervous about creating this story. I forget to mention this earlier; that new character, Kate, in my opinion, doesn't seem to fit well for me, so she's not in this story.**

**For this chapter, there will be a long prologue. Enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you all. **

**This chapter has been re-updated.**

**Please enjoy and please review, too; constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**Chapter 1: **

_-Making a decision to have a child-it's momentous. _

_It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body._

_-Elizabeth Stone_

_**Prologue…**_

Reid looked at the small white crib he had just assembled and it was perfect and it had to be; he did, however, spent a small percent of his money getting everything he would need to take care of one of life's most important living and beautiful creatures. Once he had finished putting the matching pink blanket and bottom on the crib, he walked over and picked up his new six-month old foster daughter from the car seat holding her, who had a peaches &amp; cream complexion, dark brown eyes and had an unusual amount of medium brown hair on her head and was dressed in a pink and white coverall.

Come to think of it, he never expected something like this happen to him. He could remember it as if it was just yesterday.

* * *

_**Three months ago…**_

_ The BAU team began profiling a family annihilator__ who was annihilating his entire family, in act of revengeful spite for his wife and children finally escaping from him by sneaking out on him. After the mother and the children left, they have been receiving violent threats for a time period, they were put into protective custody and unfortunately, the children were separated from the mother and sent to live with their relatives in different locations until he would be caught and/or would no longer be a threat and the divorce could be filed._

_ After a few months in protective custody, the man eventually found and brutally butchered his wife. A couple days later, __the man managed to find and shot his own parents and the wife's parents to death. A couple of days after the parents' gruesome murders…_

_While Hotch and Morgan were finding the malicious father, Reid, JJ and Rossi all took off and drove up to the area where the children and their relatives were staying. They pulled the black jeep, which was being led by half a dozen police cars, through the family's open wrought-iron gates. The property was set back from the road, so the cul-de-sac driveway was a quarter of a mile long and surrounded by tall, thick pines and oak trees. The white brick estate sat behind massive classic columns and portico with lion statues on top and an all-glass sun room off to the right side. Quintessential Spencer Reid counted fifteen windows on the first and second floors, from the first two floors ends to the other._

_ While the BAU team went into the estate, the rest of the officers got out of the police cars to raid the rest of the area, which was set way off from the property by racing-green hedges, field and stone wall that went on for acres. Half of the housed the area; on the other side were a huge lawn and two ponds. Surrounding the whole estate was a small forest._

_ Reid, JJ and Rossi, all of them dressed in their FBI protective vests, went into the house and all went in different areas of the house after entering the foyer. They all agreed that one's they cover every inch of the estate and meet back at the foyer._

_ Rossi headed to the grand living room and sitting room, but found nothing or no one, so far. He starts to head into the all-white chef's kitchen; only to find that it was not-all-white anymore as he did find blood spattered on the black and white floor tiles and some of the walls. There, he found two of the adult family members' horrific corpses with a female with tawny skin tone and black hair on top of a man with dark brown skin and clean shave haircut. He suspected the ones he found were married as he found wedding bands on both their left fingers._

_ He goes back into the living room, heads down to the home office and found an arm heading off from the door. Carefully opening the door, he found a man with fair skin and ash-blonde hair and had a bloody slit neck, sprawled across on the beige carpeting, which was ruined by the blood drops on it. There, he also found a woman with fair skin and dirty-blonde hair and her body sprawled on the white couch and she also had a bloody slit throat. The couch also had blood splattered on it. He also suspected the ones he found were also married as he found wedding bands on both their left fingers._

_ While Reid covered the right side of the second floor of the estate, JJ covered the left. There, she carefully opened all of the bathroom doors and found nothing…yet. She later goes into one of the bedrooms and found one of the grimmest yet saddest scenes she's ever encountered yet. _

_ She found four of the children's bodies in two difference rooms as each room had two school-age boys; two of them had light skin and blonde hair the other two had medium skin tone and curly black hair, but all of them were smothered with a pillow and much worse was done to them._

_ Taking a couple of minutes to take some deep breaths and collect herself, she had into one of the other bedrooms and found almost the same thing as she found in the other bedroom not-so-long ago. She found three girls; one of them had medium beige skin tone and curly black hair, one had fairly light skin tone and blonde hair, and the last one had tawny skin tone and black-brown hair; all of them smothered with a pillow and much worse was done to them as well. Two of them were on the floor while one of them is on the bed._

_ After finding nothing and no one in the bedrooms or bathroom, Reid heads up into the attic. He tries his hardest not to make a sound, despite the noise the squeaky wooden staircase made. Soon afterwards, he starts to hear some kind of echo-like muffled sounds and it sounded almost like crying. He follows the sound of where it was coming from, he comes across a black antique trunk chest. Slowly opening the luggage, it was the source of the crying. _

_ Inside was a small infant girl in a wicker basket with a pink blanket that was keeping her warm. Putting his gun on safe, he gently picks up the basket carrying the baby and setting it on the dusty antique table. He carefully yet slowly reaches out and touches the baby's small hand. The baby immediately stops crying and stares at him. She coos and smiles at him as she had her small baby fingers wrapped around his index finger._

_ He picks the baby up and holds her in his arms and against his chest with the blanket wrapped around her. As she rested her head on his chest, she lets out a small yawn. "Hey, hey. It's okay. Don't worry. I'm Dr. Spencer Reid and I'm with the FBI. You're safe now."_

_ "Reid!"  
It was JJ's voice._

_ "Reid! Are you in here?" Rossi and JJ walked up the stairs and sees Reid and the baby in his arms. They both put their guns on safe and walks up to them. He puts his index finger to his mouth, signaling them to talk quietly._

_ "Well, did you find anyone?"  
"I found the adults. All of them with their throats cut."  
"And I found all the children, literally smothered to death with a pillow."_

_ "I found her in that trunk chest," Reid said as he was gently rocking her. "I guess is that one of the children or someone else put her there, so that the father couldn't find her. At first, she was crying for a while, but she stopped when I hold her. Can you believe it?"  
"It sucks that she has to grow up without her family, no thanks to her father." JJ sighed, shaking her head._

_ "Yeah," Reid agreed. "Let's get her out of here."_

_ "I just hope and pray that Hotch and Morgan find her jag-off of a bastard father alive." Rossi said._

* * *

_**Meanwhile…**_

_While Reid, JJ and Rossi all took off and drove up to the area where the children and their relatives were staying, Hotch and Morgan was trying to find the annihilating father. As Morgan was driving, Hotch gets a phone call._

_ "Hotch here."  
"Hotch," It was Rossi. "It's Rossi. Bastard killed all four adults and seven children except a small infant girl that Reid found in the attic."_

_ Hotch sadly sighed. "At least there's one survivor."_

_ "Hotch, I have to tell you. That girl is incredibly lucky to have survive it all and I've seen most of the evil; she survived a quarter of it. She's now forced to grow up without her family, thanks to her bastard father. Anyway, meet you back later at headquarters."_

_ Hanging up the phone,_

_ "Bastard killed all four adults and seven out of eight children."_

_ "Who's the survivor?"  
"An infant girl that Reid found in the attic."  
"She's a lucky girl."_

_ "Yeah, she is."_

_They pulled the black jeep, which was leading half a dozen police cars. The property was set back from the road, so the driveway was half of a mile long and surrounded by tall, thick pines. There was only a log and stone cabin, which was being surrounded by large acres of land and taller, thick pines._

_ Hotch and Morgan, both of them dressed in their FBI protective vests, quickly walked up to the rustic mahogany front door with a few other police officers. Banging on the door,_

_ "__Jason Müller!" Hotch yelled. "We have your entire cabin surrounded. Either you come out now or we're coming in there after you."_

_ Hotch signals Morgan, telling him to do what he did best: kicking the door down. Soon, half of dozen officers covered all of the first floor while Hotch and Morgan covered the second floor. After going through three rooms and finding nothing, they both come across a locked door, meaning the man must be there. With Morgan kicking down the door again, they come across a man, down on his knees, whimpering and shivering._

_ "Jason Müller! Hands on top of your head."  
He has yet to make a movement._

_ "Hands on top of your head, now!"  
He has still yet to make a movement._

_ "Don't make me tell you again." Hotch sternly warned._

_ Finally, he turns around and he basically looks like hell, with his scraggly blonde hair hanging in pieces over his forehead. His dark blue buttoned dress shirt was covered with splatters of blood and there were some sprinkles of blood on his cheek of his fairly skin toned face. He also had some blood under his fingernails and some cuts on his fingers and hands. The expression in his blue eyes made him look crazy. He looked like he'd just ran thirty-to-forty blocks. _

_ "Cuff him." He said to Morgan as Hotch raids through his clothes. As Morgan was cuffing him, he looked at him with pure disgusted._

_ "Your family." He calmly whispers._

_ Jason Müller tried to open his mouth to speak, but only a few unintelligible syllables came out. All of a sudden, a muscle in his neck twitched._

_ "Your…own…family! You sick, disgusting son-of-a-bitch bastard!"_

_ "I'm sick." He quivered as Morgan cuffing him._

_ "You got that right." Morgan agreed, shaking his head._

_ "I didn't mean to…"_

_ "You didn't mean to what? Kill your own flesh and blood?" Hotch got in his face._

_ "Please. Have mercy on me..."_

_ Hotch, of course, gave him zero pity and sympathy towards him and an icy glare at him before walking away. "Why in hell would we have any kind of mercy or sympathy on you when you killed members of your own family?"_

_ "Please…"_

_ Hotch still kept the zero nonsense, heartless glare. "You're an adult. Your victims are your own family, including your own children. There's nothing you can say that would make me or anyone else feel sorry for a twisted bastard like you. Because frankly, anyone, including me, would have to be out of their damned mind to feel any kind of sympathy for you."_

_ Morgan rejoined the conversation. "At least one of your relatives survived your family annihilation. It's just a damn shame she's going to grow up without them, no thanks to you."_

_ "And by the looks of it," Hotch said, going through his closet and found a whole mess of bloody clothes, "The electric chair is definitely calling your name."_

_ As half of the police officers came into the room and took Jason away, Hotch looked at Morgan and said,_

_ "At least's he's going away for a long time." Hotch said_

_ "That's true." Morgan agreed with Hotch. "Can you believe that bastard killed his own family—minus the survivor—and then cries for his loss?"_

_ "How sick and pathetic can you be and get?" Hotch shook his head in pure disgust. "But hey, you can't spell 'sympathetic' without 'pathetic.'"_

* * *

_**Three months later…**_

_ It was early in the morning and Reid walked into the courtroom with his satchel on his shoulder which was almost empty expect for Hotch, dressed in his usual suit, carrying a briefcase and all of the team members: Garcia, Rossi, JJ and Morgan all standing behind them. A tall man, dressed in gray suit also enter the room. Soon, a tall bailiff entering the room._

_ "All rise for the honorable Judge Richardson." Everyone stood up._

_ Soon, an averagely tall yet distinguished-looking man with short salt-and-pepper hair, rimless glasses, dressed in a typical black robe, enters the room._

_ "You may all sit."_

_ "Who's here for the hearing of…?" He looks through his files from his folder he was recently given. "Madison Jean Müller?"_

_ "I am, your honor." Hotch answered. "I'm representing Madison in her family's memory."_

_ "Okay. Now, Mr. Bates. As Madison's case worker, I understand that since the death of her family, which was around three months ago and with her father, Jason Müller, being responsible for the family's deaths, thus having his parental rights terminated, you've placed Madison in over…five foster homes within those three months and placed back in with the orphanage after the fifth foster home."_

_ "That's correct, your honor."  
"Please tell me why that is now."  
"The shortest time she spent at one of the foster homes was for a week and a half at the first foster home, due to an untreated fever and was immediately removed from the foster couple's care. There was also previous negligence from her numerous caretakers. And now, we can't seem to find a home for her, due to both the situation with her family and her past foster placements."_

_ "Well," Judge Richardson began to take off his glasses and put his finger on his lip. "There is another situation." Finally, he looked up and said,_

_ "Dr. Reid? You found the infant first, is that correct?"  
"Yes, your honor."_

_ "And out of everyone in your team and most of her caretakers, you were the only who was able to get her to stop crying and fussing, is that correct, too?"  
"Yes, your honor."_

_ "Well…it may be a feeling, but…would you like the responsibility of caring for her?"  
Everyone's mouths, especially Reid's, Morgan's and Garcia's mouths, dropped to the ground. JJ covered her mouth in complete shock. Hotch's and Rossi's facial expressions didn't seem to change much. Reid tried to open his mouth to speak, but only a few unintelligible syllables came out._

_ "I…uh…I just…I don't know what to say."_

_ "I know babies can be mysterious and this may be coming at you too fast, but babies are one of the best judges of character and...I believe she chose you to look after her. So tell me, would you like the responsibility?"_

_ The judge was right; it was too coming at him too fast and it was also much. He didn't know what to think. But in a way, he felt that the judge was right; babies are some of the best judges of characters and maybe she did chose him to look after her. After all, he did find her first._

_ "Okay. I'll take the responsibility."_

_ "Excellent." Judge Richardson gave himself a chuckle. "And I trust that your team members will vouch for you as well?"  
"Yes, we will, your honor." Hotch said. "He's financially stable, has a stable home and has others to support and help him with her."  
Shrugging his shoulders; agreeing with Hotch,_

_ "Well, then. It's official," Banging his gavel. "I'm now granting temporary custody of Madison Jean Müller__ to Dr. Spencer Reid."_

_ After the judge declared Reid Madison's temporary guardian, the team gather around him and showered him with hugs and pats on the back. Before they could continue, Judge Richardson said,_

_ "You have a big responsibility, Doctor. Don't mess this up. We're adjourned."_

_ After half an hour has passed, the BAU team, especially Reid, anxiously waited for both Hotch and Madison to come down, so that Madison could come home with Spencer. Reid just couldn't believe something like this has happened to him. Looking up, they see Hotch, with his briefcase and a few sheets of paper, walking down the mahogany curved staircase and Reid asked,_

_ "Well? What happens now?"  
"Child Protective Services will be looking at your background checks, your psychological tests from work, they'll also be coming to your home to carry the assessment test to see if you're a suitable person to be her guardian…"  
"Which, of course, we all know you are..." Garcia said as she was hugged Reid._

_ "…And the custody order is in a week."_

_ JJ pointed to the staircase and said,_

_ "Shh-shh, guys. Look." She motions to a tall woman in a gray suit, walking down the stairs with little baby Madison in her hands, who was fussing in her arms. Standing in front of the group,_

_ "Dr. Spencer Reid?"  
"That's me, ma'am."_

_ She said with a smile. "She's all yours."  
He takes the baby from her arms and immediately starts smiling at him as Madison coos and moves around in his arms. He looks up at the team and said,_

_ "Do you think I can do this?"  
Morgan chuckled. "Of course you can, pretty boy. Like the judge said, she chose you to look after her."_

_ "Your guys are right. I can do this. I know I can. But I'm going to need your help."_

* * *

**Present time…**

The team had been amazing and has helped him get everything he needed to take care of her; Hotch, Morgan and Rossi helped him with the furniture while Garcia and JJ decorated the room with toys and helped put decorations on the ceiling, walls and windows. Gently, he laid her down in the crib and made sure she was warm and comfortable enough. She looked around the room with wonder before settling her dark brown eyes on him. As he reached out to touch her little fingers,

"Hi there, Madison. I hope you like your new room and your comfortable crib. I'm so sorry about what happened to your entire family, especially your birth father and one day, when you're old enough, you'll know the truth about what happened to them. But, until then, I think you deserve a happy, normal life. Your family would definitely want you to have that."

Patting her head, he gently turns on the baby radio, which became to play classical music, and watched as the music sends her to close her eyes and sleep. "Good night, Madison." He smiled as he left the room.

** Please Review. I'm open to ideas and more inspiration for continuing my story.**


	2. Fatherhood

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone.**

**Anyway, thank you very much for your reviews and thank you to those we read, followed, favorite story/author alert and visited my story. I really do appreciate it. **

**In this chapter, the first appearance of Maddie at five-to-six years old and a couple of flashbacks. **

**This chapter has been re-updated.**

**Please, do enjoy my story and please review****; constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**Chapter 2:**

_The fear of death follows from the fear of life. _

_The man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time._

_Mark Twain_

**Five years later…**

**Harrington Penitentiary**

A man with short blonde hair is in his prison cell, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and white shoes, his prison uniform. As he lies down on his back on the top of his bunk bed, biting his nails, he looks back to a time where he wished he could take it all back…

* * *

_**Five years earlier…**_

_ He had done some...terrible things, especially to the ones closer to him. But what he did to those closer to him was what others would call 'sick' and 'inhuman.' Most of the people he once cared about and literally loved to death, ended up dead in some of the most barbaric and cold-blooded ways that a person could ever die._

_ Little did he know…his actions made him at the top of the FBI's Most Wanted List._

_ Everyone in the court room quietly and anxiously whispered as to if the person standing on trial would be found guilty or not guilty. As he entered the room, in head-to-toe chains and in an orange prison jumpsuit, with every FBI and SWAT officer at every door entrance and exit. Everyone in the room looked at him the bastard pig that he was. The crowd quickly quiets down when an elderly yet distinguished-looking man with salt-and-pepper hair, black rimless glasses, dressed in a typical black robe-obviously the judge, enters the room._

_ "As we are at the end of this trial, there is something I must say, because if I didn't…I…don't know what I would do if I didn't say anything up until this very moment." He turns to look at Müller with such pure disgusted and hatred. And he should; he was about to get a rude awaking from the judge.  
"You, sir, have got to be one of the lowest, filthiest, most-inhuman, pathetic excuse for a living human being I've ever seen in my courtroom, if not the only one. You not only committed one of the deadliest family annihilations, if not the deadliest in the state, country, maybe in the world, but you brutally butchered your wife like some damned poacher, but you shot your own parents and in-laws, slit the throats of your own sister and in-laws and literally smothers seven children; four of them being your own two nieces and two nephews, and three of them were your own children. You smothered and killed your two sons and daughter. Your…own…"_

_ "Excuse me for a second. I do apologize; I just…" The judge stopped himself as he took off his glasses for a moment, passes his fingers through his hair and put his finger to his mouth. Gulping down the rest of his water as he was shaking his head before he could continue,_

_ "At least your youngest daughter marvelously survived your family annihilation, but now, she's forced to have to grow up without her family, no thanks to a disgusting excuse for a human being like yourself. And that is why your parental rights have not only been permanently terminated and will never see that child again, but your sentence for your heinous crimes…is the death penalty." He said it with the no-nonsense icy glare in his eyes and tight mouth._

_ Some of the people in the courthouse began to mutter and cheer loud enough for the judge go call order in the courtroom and continued to bang his gavel until everyone quiet down. His facial expressions didn't change much; his eyes had some worry in his eyes and his mouth started to quiver. _

_ "To be perfectly honest with you, I don't know what's sadder: the fact that you're even still alive after what you did to your family or the fact that your youngest daughter; your very last of the family's kin, has to grow up without her family, which you took away from her. We're adjured. Officers, please get this guy out of my courtroom and out of my sight." The judge leaves after he dismissed the entire courtroom, passing his fingers through his hair._

_ Everyone was later dismissed as heavily guarded officers began to escort him and out of the room and his facial expression has yet to change. Everyone else's expressions have not changed; they all still looked at him like the lowest creature to ever walk the face of the Earth._

_**Flashback end…**_

* * *

"Müller! Jason Müller!"

A uniformed guard snaps his fingers at him, which immediately snaps him out of his flashback and called his name from his cell. He turns around to see the guard standing outside of his jail cell.

"Yeah, Jayden?"

"I got some news for you." He was not like he was going to say he had a visitor. He hasn't had a visitor since the day he was locked up and the key was thrown far, far away. But whatever news he was going to give him had to be important.

"What's the big news?"

"It turns out…your execution is about a week away." He said with a grin on his face. "Isn't that something? If I were you, I'd start thinking about my very last meal and final words to say before you go…bye-bye-bye. See you on execution day." He snickers to both himself and at him as he walks away.

The bones in Müller's face began to turn to ash. He slowly blinks, as if he's just woken up from some bad nightmare. But at the end of the day, he wasn't dreaming and it was definitely true: he's going to be executed in a week. And the worst part of it is… he's never going to see his youngest daughter before his timely execution.

"Someone seems upset." A calm yet deep voice said. Jason looks down from his bunk bed and sees his bunkmate, quietly reading a book. His hair was messy yet shoulder-length, his thin almond shaped eyes were a mellow blue, arched-shaped eyebrows, strong jawline and had a calm, yet eerily expression look on his face.

"I can't believe it. I'm never going to see her."

"See who?"

"My daughter."

"Do you know what she looks like?"

"I don't know what she looks like or where she is; I don't even know how old she is, but what I do know is that I'm never going to see her before I die."

Closing his book as he stroked his chin, "Well, I do have an idea…it's a bit risky…but it'll be worth it…but it's going to cost you."

Stepping down from his bunk bed and taking a deep breath as he told him his idea, he knew it would be risky, but if it meant he could see his daughter, it was a chance he had to take.

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

Reid walked into a typical classroom, where he sees a petite woman with her black-brown hair in a ponytail, almond-shaped brown eyes, rectangular glasses, toffee-colored skin tone, dressed in khaki knee-length skirt, sweater set and kitten heels, cleaning up some supplies off some of the circular tables.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes. May I help you? I'm Miss. Leah Irwin, by the way."

"Hello, Miss. Irwin. I…uh…I'm sorry, ma'am. I'm Dr. Reid. I'm just here for…"

"Daddy!"

A small girl—between five-to-six-years-old—with a peaches &amp; cream complexion, almond-shaped dark brown eyes, high cheekbones, and long and wavy medium brown hair in a ponytail, dressed in a soft pink short-sleeve polo shirt, denim jacket and jeans, mismatched socks and pink Converse sneakers with a black messenger bag on her shoulder, running up to him.

"Maddie!" Reid swept her into his arms and hugged her. "Hey there, you."

The petite woman walked up to Maddie and Reid. "Oh. So, you must be Maddie's father."

"Yes. Yes, I am."

"May I talk to you for a few minutes? If you don't mind?"

"Uh…sure." Looking at Maddie before setting for down, "Hey, Maddie. Why don't you wait for a while, alright?"

"Okay, daddy." She settled down at one of the table and reached out to her back for a book. Reid turned around to face the woman,

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Have you notice something…different with Maddie?"

"What do you mean? I mean…did she do something wrong? Did something happen to her?"

"Oh!" She exclaims. "No, no. Nothing like that, Doctor. What I mean…have you notice some kind of…intelligence in her?"

"What kind of intelligence?"

Shrugging her shoulders as she was watching Maddie read, "Like some kind of…child prodigy intelligence."

Now that he thought about what Miss. Irwin had just said to him, he always did notice something different about Maddie. Looking back at what Maddie did throughout the years…

* * *

_**Two years ago…**_

_ Reid walks through the entrance of a public library, where he approaches a distinguished-looking elderly woman at the front desk and said,_

_ "Hi. Excuse me, ma'am. Have you seen a little girl with brown hair with a woman with red hair with her? One of them was wearing mismatch socks."_

_ "I think I know who you're talking about." Following her,_

_ "You know, that's something very different about this girl. I've been watching her for the past few weeks reading nonstop, even some of the most complicated children's books and novels. Sometime after she finished all of the children's books, she moved on to some of the more complicated books and novels. You should hear her talk about certain kinds of mathematics and literature books. And there she is."_

_ Looking up, Reid noticed a small girl—between three-to-four-years-old—with her hair in wavy pigtails and a white headband, dressed in a red long-sleeve top attached to a cream-color skirt and belt, mismatched socks and black Mary Janes, laughing with a woman that fitted close to Reid's description of her, inside one of the study rooms. _

_ "That's my daughter."_

_ "You are a lucky man to have a daughter like her." She said as she walked away with a smile. "She's special, alright." Walking in one of the study rooms,_

_ "Hey, Maddie."_

_ "Hi, daddy!" Her face lit up as she ran up to his arms as she hugged him. "How was your day?"_

_ "It was a lot of work, especially with what I do, but at the end of the day, it was okay. What about you?"_

_ "Look what I got!"_

_ "Hey, you got a library card. Good for you."_

_ "That means I can take as many books as I was. And guess what I want?" She points to the stack of books sitting on the table._

_ Chuckling to himself, "I guess we can do that." Before he leaves the room with Maddie in his arms,_

_ "Oh! And Ms. Hunter. Thanks for babysitting her."_

_ "Anytime, Dr. Reid."_

_**Flashback end…**_

* * *

"Yes, I've notice. I've notice for a long time."

"Well, she's something special, alright." She said with her arms crossed as shrugged her shoulders. "You are a lucky man to have a daughter like her."

"Yeah. Can I take her home now?"

"Oh, yes. Yes, you can take her home."

"Okay. Maddie. Time to go." As soon as Maddie put her book in her bag, she runs up to Reid swept her into his arms and carried her out to take her home. Maddie waved to her teacher,

"See you soon. Have a nice weekend."

"You too, Maddie."

Later that day, it was almost nighttime and Reid, who was sitting on the full-sized bed, was just about to read Maddie '_The Prince and the Pauper_'—one of the books Maddie had pick out from the library—before her bedtime. Sitting down next to Maddie, who was rubbing her eyes as she yawned,

"Hey, Maddie. If you're too tired, we can always read this tomorrow."

"No," Maddie said, yawning. "I'll be fine. I love you, daddy."

"Oh. Well, then, okay," Starting to read to Maddie,

"_In the ancient city of London, on a certain autumn day in the second quarter of the sixteen century_…"

Only to learn that Maddie had already began to fall asleep with her holding on to her pink plush bear. Closing the book, he gently tucks her in, turns off the bedroom light for her nightlight and kisses her forehead,

"Good night, Maddie. I love you, too."

* * *

**(12:45 A.M. –Aaron Hotchner's Bedroom)**

Hotch was peacefully sleeping until he hears his phone vibrating from under his pillow. Trying to pick up the phone as he was moaning and trying to sleep,

"Hotchner." He wearily said, yawning into the phone.

"What?" Hotch's voice was now on high alert, sitting up in his bed. "When? Are you sure? Okay. I'll get my team together."

After getting himself ready five-to-ten minutes later, he tries to call Morgan and JJ as he grabs his keys from his dressers. Luckily, his son Jack was on an out-of-state school trip for the weekend and most of next week. He impatiently waited for JJ and Morgan to pick up their phones, but was still going to voice mail for the third time in a row.

"Will you two please pick up your damn phones already?" He impatiently said to himself.

JJ moaned as she heard her phone vibrating from under her bed. While her husband, William, was sleeping, she yawns into the phone,

"JJ here."

"JJ, I need you and Morgan to meet up with me and get to Reid's apartment." Hotch said, trying to get Morgan on the other line.

"Hotch, it's one in the morning." She said, running her fingers through her hair.

"I agree with her, Hotch." Morgan said as he just got on the other line, yawning. "This must be _very_ important; we just came back from a long case."

"It's an emergency. You're not going to believe what you're about to hear."

* * *

Reid wakes up with the sound of banging on his apartment front door. He doesn't even remember falling asleep on the couch. He also didn't know how he fell asleep as he was holding on to an engineering book and had his empty coffee mug next to him; he figured he fell asleep as he was reading. Putting his hand on his head as the banging was still continuing,

"Alright! Alright! I'm coming."

He finally opens the door, there he sees Hotch, JJ and Morgan with a team of guards standing behind them. Still too tired to know why there were even a team of guards standing behind them,

"Hey," He said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he yawned. "What are you guys doing here? It's past one in the morning." He lets the team in as he looked at the time on his watch.

"Where's Maddie?" Hotch said with concern.

"She's sleeping in her room. Why?"

"We have to get you two out of here."

"Why? What happen?"

"It's her father, Reid."

"I'm her father." Reid corrected.

"No. What she means is…her biological father…Jason Müller. He escaped from prison."

** Please Review. I'm open to ideas and more inspiration for continuing my story.**


	3. Protecter

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone.**

**Anyway, thank you very much for your reviews and thank you to those we read, followed, favorite story/author alert and visited my story. I really do appreciate it. **

**This chapter includes another flashback with a character who'll play a role in this story. **

**This chapter has been re-updated.**

**Please, do enjoy my story and please review****; constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**Chapter 3:**

_Nobody can hurt me without my permission._

_Mahatma Gandhi_

Reid's facial expressions hasn't change once he learned from Hotch and the team that Maddie's biological father, Jason Müller, escaping from prison has changed for a few minutes. No blinking with his mouth slightly agape. Finally, after those long minutes,

"How?"

"We don't know yet, but we have to get you two out of here."

"Garcia and Rossi are already waiting for us at the BAU."

"We better hurry."

"Alright. Give me five minutes to get ready. Uh…JJ, Morgan…grab some of Maddie's stuff and try not to wake her up, even though she can be a heavy sleeper."

* * *

As Reid went into his bedroom bathroom to get change, JJ and Morgan quickly walked into Maddie's room, where they find her peacefully sleeping. While JJ was grabbing some of Maddie's stuff, such as a couple sets of clothes from her dressers, Morgan grabs her black, pink and white Nike running sneakers and try to put them on as she was trying to sleep. As Maddie began to mutter, Morgan went to her bedside, threw aside her pink and white bed covers and whispered,

"Hey, Maddie. Try to go back to sleep, okay, kid?"

He gently picks up a sleeping Maddie with a white knitted throw wrapped around her. As he was carrying her, JJ grabs his attention and said,

"Hey, Morgan. Check this out." She shows him a copy of '_The Secret Garden_', '_A Little Princess_' and '_Peter Pan_.' Morgan chuckled,

"Girl has a good taste in books."

"When I was her age, I was interested in books that were about butterflies and soccer."

* * *

As Reid was leaving his bedroom bathroom, he changed into a fresh set of clothes. As he was getting his satchel ready and refiling up his coffee mug, he asked Hotch,

"What I want to know is how he even escaped," He said as he fiddled with the buttons on his sweater, "He was sent to a maximum security federal prison."

"My guess is that he either had help or he's been planning this for a while, now. But come to think of it, he's doesn't seem like a coincidence for him to escape now. There has to be a reason behind this."

"I won't let anything happen to her, Hotch," Reid said. "Adopted or not; she's my daughter, no matter what." Before either Hotch or Reid could say another word, JJ and Morgan walked out of Maddie's room with JJ carrying her bag while Morgan carried her in his arms.

"Come on. Let's go."

* * *

Hotch, JJ, Morgan, Reid and Reid rushed into the office and into the BAU room where Garcia and Rossi gathered. Garcia immediately began to set up her laptop and tablets at the table. Rossi gathered coffee and anything else that would keep the team awake. Before getting started, Morgan placed Maddie on the couch in the other room for her to get some sleep and not to hear what was going on, especially about her birth father.

"Okay," Hotch started off, despite not getting much sleep. "What do we got so far?"

"Well, let's see," Garcia sighed. "A case I could never forget. Almost five years ago, Caroline Harris-Müller, escaped from her husband, Jason Müller, who she had four children with, their oldest son, Michael, the twins, Parker and Peyton and a newborn Maddie."

She shows pictures of the family, which include an African-American woman with three children gathering around her and an infant Maddie.

"Shortly after Maddie's birth, the father sent violent threats to them, resulting Caroline putting out a restraining order on him and they were shorty placed in protective custody, but the children, including Maddie, were soon sent to live with their other relatives until he was either caught or no longer a threat…"

"…But the bastard soon found them and went after the mother first. I don't think he would save her for last and did he butcher her. Then went after his parents some time later, Anna and Peter Müller and his wife's parents, Beth and Jake Harris…" The screen soon shows pictures of two distinguished-looking couples; an African-American couple and a fair-skinned couple.

"…Not to mention, going after his sister, Cynthia, her husband Murray, his wife's brother and sister-in-law, Liam and Ava…" Soon pictures of another fair-skinned couple and an African-American couple came up.

"And worst of all…he took the lives his two nieces Mary and Sophia, his two nephews, Alexander and Colin and his own three children and…" JJ stopped for a second as she shuddered. "At least we caught the bastard and he was sentenced to the death penalty." The screen began to show pictures of four children gathering around an infant Maddie.

"Thank God he did."

"Too bad for Maddie. The poor girl was just three months old when it happened."

As everyone was continued, Reid went to check on Maddie, who was still sleeping on the couch in the other room. This wasn't the first time her life was in danger…

* * *

_**Over four-and-a-half years ago…**_

_ The BAU team began profiling a wealthy but dangerous man, Mason Meyer, who used his connections to hire a hit-man to eliminate a number of witnesses and the ones who was planning on testifying against him in court for heinous crimes__. On that very day, JJ and Morgan began to interrogate him to get some answers out of him,_

_ "Not surprising for a good-looking fella like you, you're quite cocky, no?"_

_ The man, who had a strong jawline, short dark brown hair, ice blue eyes, snickered at JJ's comment and just said,_

_ "You clowns got nothing at me."_

_ "Oh, we have a lot on you, punk. You hired a hit-man to eliminate the ones who plan to testify against you for charges, such as…well let's see: attempted sexual assault, rape, molestation, abuse, murder. You want me to continue?" Mason rolls his eyes._

_ "Add those charges plus the fact that you hired a hitman, you might, hmmm…either get the electric chair or a lethal injection. What do you think, JJ?"_

_ "I think the electric chair, Morgan."_

_ "Not gonna happen."_

_ "Tell us the name of the hit-man and maybe…just maybe…we'll tell the D.A. you cooperated with us. But if you don't…you'll know what'll happen to you."_

_ He just gave them a simple smile as he crossed his arms. "Like I'm worried about that." As JJ and Morgan looked at each other before looking back at him,_

_ "We already got you, so…you better worry." As they were getting up, Meyer said,_

_ "If I were you two, I would be more worried about that doctor's daughter."_

_ This caused JJ and Morgan to stop before they could leave the room. Turning around,_

_ "What did you just say?"_

_ Leaning forward as he was sitting down,_

_ "I didn't stutter."_

_ Morgan softly chuckled to himself. "I know you didn't stutter; 'cause if you did, I would knock you the hell out."_

_ "What did you say again?"_

_ "I said…blondie and muscle man…I would be really worried about that doctor's daughter because…rumor has it...didn't she just lose her entire family—minus the father—a few months ago? It would be such a damn shame if anything happened to her, wouldn't it?" JJ and Morgan gave him their most frightening look, but still didn't bother him. Meyer began to softly laugh to himself as they all began to leave the room. "That's what I thought."_

_ Morgan turned around and was seconds away from knocking him the hell out and into outer system after what he just said about Reid and Maddie. But luckily, JJ, Rossi and Hotch, who has just entered the room, held him back to prevent him from actually doing it. Once they left the room,_

_ "I want to go back in there and strangle the son of the bitch." Morgan said, fueling with rage and anger._

_ "Me too."_

_ "Who wants to strangle who?" Reid said as he walked by the interrogation room._

_ "It's that bastard." Rossi said, pointed to Mason, who was still sitting with a smug smile on his face while crossing his arms. "And you might want to be worried."_

_ "Why?"_

_ "Because the bastard threatened you…and Maddie."_

* * *

_ Despite the fact that Mason threatened him and Maddie, Reid didn't think he had much to worry about. Little did he know he had much to worry about the next day…_

_ Reid walked into the BAU bullpen, only to see the team inside of the meeting rooms. Wanting to know what was going on,_

_ "Hey, everyone. What's going on?"_

_ "Two more victims found shot. One of them dead and the other's in surgery right now." JJ said, looking at the television screen._

_ "And they were both planning on testifying against Mason Meyer."_

_ "No doubt he might come after Maddie to prove he really means business."_

_ "And if he does…I'm going to put him a coma. Or worse, whichever comes first."_

_ This began to worry Reid. Walking out of the meeting room, he immediately dials his cell phone to call Alice Winters, the nanny he hired to help with taking care of Maddie while he was working. He gulped as he dialed her phone, but went straight to voice mail for the second time._

_ "Come on! Please pick up!" He impatiently said._

_ Finally, he gets an answer,_

_ "Hello?"_

_ "Alice?"_

_ "Hello and afternoon, Dr. Reid? How can I help you?"_

_ "Hey, Alice. Listen, I need you and Maddie to not leave the apartment, okay? Don't answer the phones, don't answer the front door; just don't answer to anything until I get back."_

_ "We're not at the apartment, we're actually at the park."_

_ "Park?"_

_ "Yes. Crystal State Park, actually. I thought Maddie could use some fresh air for a while. It's about five-to-ten minutes from the apartment."_

_ "Okay. Please, get Maddie and get out of there now!"_

_ "I'll get her out right now, but's what's going on?"_

_ "Please, Alice. It's an emergency."_

_ Before Reid could hang up the phone or even say another word, he began to overhear loud voices coming from the phone._

_ "Alice, what's that noise?"_

_ Before he knew it, he began to overhear loud and rapid gun popping going off and screaming from the other end on the phone._

_ "Maddie!"_

* * *

_ The BAU team rushed down to Crystal State Park to see what was going on. For Reid, it was to make sure Maddie wasn't hurt. Rushing out of the car, while Hotch and Rossi began investigate and talking to some of the local witnesses, JJ, Morgan and Reid rushed over to the playground to see what happened here. As they began to wander around, Reid looked at a black stroller lying on the ground. He looked at the tag and it said,_

_ 'Spencer Reid.'_

_ Reid felt as if he was about to pass out; he didn't want to think that anything happened to Maddie, but soon…_

_ "Reid!" Morgan snaps him out of his thoughts._

_ Running over to Morgan's side, where he was by one of the two ambulances was there to make sure everyone and the children were okay,_

_ "Alice!"_

_ He calls out his nanny, who was dressed in a green sweater set, a khaki A-line skirt and oxford flats standing nervously with a brown tote on her shoulder._

_ "Alice. What happen?"_

_ "Before I could even take Maddie back to the apartment, this black Mercedes-Benz car with black tinted windows began to start shooting at us."_

_ "It must have been Mason's hit-man." Morgan said._

_ "What about Maddie? Where is she?"_

_ "She's being taken care of by one of the paramedics by the ambulance." She pointed out to one of the ambulances._

_ "Guys, over here!" JJ grabbed Morgan and Reid's attention and walked over to one of the paramedics. _

_ There they saw Maddie, dressed in a three-piece set outfit,__ sneakers, a pink hooded diamond-quilted coat and a white cotton beret on her head, fussing around in their arms; on the verge of crying._

_ "Excuse me?"_

_ "Yes, sir. Are you her guardian?"_

_ "Yes, I am. How is she?"_

_ "She got lucky and came out unharmed," The paramedic lady, trying to calm her down with a smile. "She's all yours, sir."  
He takes the baby from her arms with Maddie cooing and moving around in his arms. Holding her close to his chest, trying to calm her down. "Hey-hey, Maddie. Don't worry. It'll all be okay. You're safe now. I got you. It's going to be okay."_

* * *

_ After realizing Maddie was not safe at the apartment, the best place Reid thought she would be best at the BAU and sent Alice back home. A few hours have passed and as Reid was getting some last-minute work done, he looked down at Maddie cuddling with the pink plush bear as she was playing with the cashmere rattle. Reid couldn't help to smile at how adorable Maddie looked. He looked to see Garcia and JJ creeping up to his desk._

_ "So how's it going, boy genius?"_

_ "Oh my god, she's so adorable." Garcia squealed as she saw Maddie on Reid's lap. "I remember when she first came here. She could hardly stop crying, she wouldn't let anyone touch her and could scream at the top of her lungs when anyone tried to pick her up, especially when Hotch and Rossi tried to."_

_ "I remember when she spits up on Morgan's new shirt and shoes when he tried to calm her down."_

_ "And then, she spits up on Hotch and Rossi."_

_ "But then our dear old Reid was the only one who could calm her down. I still can't believe Judge Richardson made you her temporary guardian. After a couple of months, how do you feel now?"_

_ "I'm still shocked about it, but I think it's great she's needed by me." He said as he was patting her head. "Maybe that judge was right; maybe she did chose me to look after her."_

_ Morgan run up to Reid's desk, "Hey, you guys. We found the hit-man. Hotch and Rossi are about to leave soon." He soon notices Maddie on Reid's lap. "Yeah, aren't you supposed to be helping us, pretty boy? What really did happened to the Reid effect?"_

_ "He is helping us." JJ said, defending him. "You're just upset because he's getting attention from all the women and you're not."_

_ "How?"_

_ "The last time I checked, I'm keeping her calm and protected. Oh, and quiet, too. But I don't know if I could leave Maddie after what happened at the park. Maybe I should stay."_

_ "Why don't I watch her while you guys catch the mean men who threatened this delicious bundle of joy?" Garcia said, putting her hands out, so Reid can give her Maddie._

_ JJ, Morgan and Reid all gave each other weird looks on their faces, but since they had to catch the hit-man who been hired by a powerful man to go after the ones who plan to testify against him in court,_

_ "Alright. She doesn't scream or spit up on everybody as she used it." He hands Maddie over to Garcia and gave her a black bag with all of the baby's stuff. Kneeling down,_

_ "Don't worry, Maddie. I got somewhere to be, but when it's all over, I'm taking you home, alright?" He tickles her, letting out small babyish giggles._

_ "Now, don't you worry your pretty little heads. I'll treat this little pot of gems like the little princess she is, your majesty." She said as she's walking back to her office with the baby in the stroller. As they were heading out, Reid said,_

_ "Should I be worry?"_

_ "You tell us; you left Maddie with her."_

_ "Remind me to tell Hotch she needs to be drug-tested a couple times if I ever leave Maddie with her again."_

* * *

_ After getting armed up and ready to take down Mason Meyer's hit-man, they pulled the black jeep, which was leading half a dozen police cars. The property was set back from the road, so the driveway was three-quarters long of a mile and surrounded by tall, thick pines. There was only a small log and stone cabin, which was being surrounded by large acres of land and taller and thicker pines._

_ The BAU team, all of them dressed in their FBI protective vests, quickly walked up to the rustic mahogany front door with a few other police officers. Banging on the door,_

_ "Charles Stone!" __Hotch yelled from the outside of the cabin. "We have your entire cabin surrounded. Either you come out now or we're coming in there after you. We're giving you to the count of three."_

_ Hotch signals Morgan, telling him to do what he did best: kicking the door down. Once they got inside, all they see is a slightly plump man with fair skin, short scruffy black hair, and five o'clock shadow, dressed in black clothes, Timberland boots, sitting on a dusty couch, causally eating a slice of mushroom pizza. Looking up at the team,_

_ "What? You people never seen a man eat mushroom pizza before?"_

_ "Put the pizza down and surrender yourself."_

_ Scoffing at Hotch's comment, he slowly turns his head to look at Reid,_

_ "So, you must be the doctor. Did that daughter of yours live?"_

_ "I know you did not just threatened a federal agent's daughter."_

_ "You don't scare me."_

_ "Maybe you'll be scared of the electric chair once we take your ass down."_

_ "Oh, really?" As soon as Charles placed his hand behind one of the pillows, he quickly whips out a gun, but before he could have shot,_

_ BANG!_

_ Rossi fires at his arm before anything else could happen. "Clear!"_

_ As half of the police officers came into the room and took Charles away, Rossi looked at everyone else and said,_

_ "What? I didn't like the bastard him threatening Reid's daughter."_

* * *

_ After that ordeal with Mason Meyer and his hit-man were both captured and sent to maximum security prison without any chance for parole, the team headed back to the BAU, grabs their stuff and went home, or in Reid's care, took her home with him, now that Meyer and Stone were no later a threat. It was nighttime and Reid, now changed in traditional two-piece loungewear and got her well fed, cleaned up and dressed in a pajama set. He held her as he sat down on the couch in his living room apartment._

_ "Hey there, Maddie. There's something I have to tell you. A couple of mean men threatened me, but more importantly, you. But we got them and as long as I'm here, I'll always make sure you're safe…because I won't let anything happen to you. This I swear and promise."_

_ Maddie babbles at him happily and Reid chuckles as he strokes through her hair._

_ "I love you."_

_ He kissed Maddie's forehead and head as he lays her head against his chest after she lets out a small yawn._

* * *

_**Flashback end…**_

As Maddie began to mutter and try to sit up,

"Daddy? What's happening? What's wrong?"

Nervously, Reid went to her side, tucked her in with the throw wrapped around her body and whispered,

"Hey, Maddie. Try to go back to sleep, okay? I'll tell you in the morning. I love you."

He kisses her head and let her go back to sleep. He wasn't quite ready to tell her about her biological father and what he did to the rest to her family. It just wasn't the time. He promised himself he'll keep her safe.

And he will.

** Please Review. I'm open to ideas and more inspiration for continuing my story.**


	4. Escaped Dreams

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone.**

**Anyway, thank you very much for your reviews and thank you to those we read, followed, favorite story/author alert and visited my story. I really do appreciate it. Sorry it took so long. I've been having writer's block for a while and school. **

**This chapter includes Maddie's having dreams and the return of Maddie's birth father and his cellmate, who's a character from this story.**

**This chapter has been re-updated.**

**Please, do enjoy my story and please review****; constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**Chapter 4:**

_-_ _The heart of a father is the masterpiece of nature. _

– _Antoine François Prévost_

_ Before Maddie could know, something about her surroundings seemed different; much different. Even though she was still dressed in her two-piece tartan sleepwear set and had her long hair in a side braid, she wasn't where she was supposed to be. Instead, she was standing in the middle of a dark attic with nothing than a truck chest. Wondering to know what was in there, she creakily walks over to it, slowly and quietly. Once she opens the chest, she opens herself and sees a baby girl, quietly sleeping inside._

_ Before she could even realize what a baby was doing in there, all of a sudden,_

_ A loud crash echoed and sounded from downstairs. She began to hear the voices from downstairs screaming and echoing throughout the house. She runs under the dusty desk and uses the dusty chair to hide herself from anything or anyone in case if anyone saw her. Soon, she stopped hearing the screams and echoes and only began to hear footsteps._

_ "Clear!" A sudden voice shook Maddie up. Still hiding under the desk, she hears footsteps coming from__ the squeaky wooden staircase. Soon afterwards, she starts to hear some kind of echo-like muffled sounds and it sounded almost like crying. Maddie realized it came from the truck. She hears the footsteps coming closer. Take a quick peek through the chair, she quietly sees,_

_ "Daddy?"_

* * *

Maddie gasped as she jolted up from the couch she was sleeping on. As she slowly began to be more aware of her real surroundings, she sees Reid sitting next to her.

"Maddie?"

She blinked her eyes countless times as she shook the cobwebs from her mind.

"Hey, Maddie. Are you okay?" He said, comforting her as he has his arms wrapped around her. "What happened?"

"I…I had this dream."

"What kind of dream, Maddie?"

"In my dream, I…saw this baby in a truck chest, and when I heard noise, I hid by this desk and then…I saw you."

"You saw me?"

"Yeah, when you opened the truck. I don't know why though."

Reid became to realize what Maddie was talking about. He thinks it might have been possible that she dreamt about the day her entire family was taken from her. By her own father.

"Daddy, what do you think the dream means?" She said, biting down on her nails.

"I…I don't know, Maddie. I just don't know."

For some reason, he knew she dreamt about her family's untimely deaths and now that he and the rest of BAU team was working on the case about her biological father's escape from prison. He just wrapped his arms around her and comforted her. He just wasn't quite ready to tell her about it; at least not now.

* * *

While JJ and Garcia were back at headquarters, watching Maddie, Hotch and Rossi were both sitting in one of the interrogation rooms to interview one of the security guards of the Harrington Penitentiary, who discovered that Maddie's father, Jason Müller, has escaped.

"When did you discover that Jason Müller had escaped?"

"I noticed he escaped after one of the prison doctors, Dr. Samuel Keller, was found on the floor, D.O.A. In about a week, he was scheduled to be executed. I should know, I told him he would be executed. From the looks of it, he definitely had help escaping. It's almost impossible to escape here without help. I believe it was his cell mate."

"Who was his cellmate?"

* * *

While Hotch and Rossi were talking to Jayden, Morgan and Reid were in one of the security rooms, looking over the security tapes at the time of the Müller's escape.

"Man, I hate coming to the prisons." Morgan complained.

"Who are you telling?" Reid agreed with him. Morgan turned around, noticing Reid was biting down on his fingernails, had his arms folded and was walking back and forth. Finally asking him,

"Hey, man. Are you okay?"

"It's Maddie."

"What about Maddie?"

"She had a dream. S-she dreamt about me finding her in that truck chest. It's like…she had a vision of what happened that day."

"You know, I think this may be the best time to tell her…about her being adopted and what her dream is really about, but not about her birth father; not yet about him."

"I know, but…what if she doesn't understand?"

"She will understand. I have a feeling she will. Now we have to focus on finding her bastard birth father before he finds her."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Come on; let's look over the tapes."

Both Morgan and Reid watched the tapes of Müller's escape from one of the prison dentist rooms. There they see Müller entering the room before the doctor. Soon, before the doctor could even close the room, they see one of the unsubs hitting the doctor with something at his head a few times before crashing to the floor. While Müller's face is shown, one of them had their face hidden before pulling the doctor into another room by his ankles with Müller helping the other unsub.

"We can't get a clear shot of the other one's face."

"At least we know someone else helped him escaped."

* * *

As they were walking down the hall after leaving the room to find Hotch and Rossi,

"Hopefully, Garcia can figure out who the other unsub is."

"Yeah, let's hope so."

Finally finding Hotch and Rossi were some of the other guards and inmates were at,

"Hotch! Rossi!"

"We did you two find out?"

"That he definitely had help escaping from there. What about you?"

"We know the person who helped him."

"Who?"

* * *

**Unknown**

As Müller changed from his orange prison uniform into a simple t-shirt, jeans and shoes he was sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for someone else to come out of the bathroom from the dirty motel room they were temporary staying in.

"Will you hurry up in there?"

"I can't just rush perfection, Müller." A calm voice said from the bathroom.

"You can if you can find my daughter."

"Don't worry. With some of my old connections, we will find her sooner than you think."

"Are you sure?"

"Oh, I'm sure and right." The mam finally got out of the bathroom, dressed in a plain shirt, jacket, jeans and boots. He gives himself a spritz of peppermint breath fresher.

"I hope you are, Meyer."

** Please Review. I'm open to ideas and more inspiration for continuing my story.**


	5. Adopted Dreams

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone.**

**Anyway, thank you very much for your reviews and thank you to those we read, followed, favorite story/author alert and visited my story. I really do appreciate it and I do thank you for some of the ideas. Sorry it took so long. I've been having writer's block for a while and school. **

**For the rest of this story, I decided to bring Emily back for the team dynamic. **

**This chapter includes Maddie having more dreams and another appearance of her birth father and his cellmate.**

**This chapter has been re-updated.**

**Please, do enjoy my story and please review****; constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**Chapter 5:**

_-_ _Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes._

– _C.G. Jung_

Hotch, Morgan, Reid and Rossi rushed back to the BAU room, where they met up with Garcia and JJ in one of the conference rooms. There, they were about to hear one of the most disturbing news they've ever received.

"Meyer? As in _Mason Meyer_?" JJ said, trying to both examine and digest what was just being said in the room.

"That's right." Morgan said with his back against the wall. "Maybe that's why Müller escaped prison; once he heard about his execution, he escaped with Meyer to find her."

"Wasn't he the same bastard who put a hit on Maddie when we threatened him?" Rossi asked. "She wasn't even a year old when it happened. He almost killed her in broad daylight."

"…As well as a number of his victims and witnesses who planned on testifying against him for multiple counts of sexual assault."

"What about the hit-man he hired?" Rossi asked.

"Charles Stone?" Garcia said, typing away on her laptop computer, only to find an endless supply of information on him. "I doubt he would be helping him; he died almost three years ago from a heart attack while he was on death row."

"So, in the meantime, what do we do about Maddie?"

"We could call Emily," JJ suggested. "She could take her to U.K. for a while until we find them or when it's safe enough to return, whichever comes first. Maddie did say she wanted to see the U.K. someday."

"No way," Reid finally said. "I mean; she has school on Monday."

"We don't think it's safe for her here." Hotch protested.

"I say we should call Emily and she'll be here by either the morning or afternoon. She should…"

Standing up, "Look, I know you guys are looking out for us and we appreciate it; don't get me wrong about that. But she's my daughter, alright? I'll think of something. But in the meantime, we can put her in protective custody and hopefully some security."

"I guess that seems reasonable."

"But I'm still calling Emily, just in case anything goes wrong." Hotch said, pulling out his cell phone.

As Reid was about to leave, Morgan said,

"Reid, I promise you, I will _literally_ kill those two bastards if they ever come near her."

"I know. That's why I can always count on you guys, especially you."

Reid leaves the room, running his fingers through his hair as he was shaking his head. He understands that the team wanted to help, but Maddie was his daughter, adopted or not. He's going to protect her; no matter what. He rushes back to the room where Maddie was in, only to find her fast asleep on the couch. Reid finds a bunch of stacked books on the coffee table and sees a copy of _Moby Dick_ in her hand.

Reid goes by her side and strokes a piece of her hair behind her ear as she slept. He gently covers her with her throw blanket and kisses her head before leaving the room. As he was walking out, JJ enters the room,

"Hey there, you. Where's Maddie?"

"Napping." He hands over the book to JJ. Chuckling to herself,

"Yeah, isn't _Moby Dick_ advanced for her age?"

Walking over to the coffee table by a sleeping Maddie, JJ goes through the stacked books,

"_Oliver Twist_? _The Old Man and the Sea_? _Of Mice and Men_? _The Grapes of Wrath_? How can a girl her age read these kinds of books? When I was her age, I couldn't read these books; and yet I thought boys had cooties and were gross."

"Even I read some of these books when I was her age."

"That's because you were a special child with a high IQ."

"So is she in her own way."

"Well, that's true." JJ shrugged her shoulders, crossing her arms as she agreed with him. "I wonder what she's dreaming about."

* * *

_Before Maddie could know, something about her surroundings seemed different; much different from the last dream. Even though she was still dressed in a simple green T-shirt, pink jeans and sneakers and had her long hair in pigtails, she wasn't where she was supposed to be. Instead, she found her sleeping in the middle of the wooded area. Wondering to know where she was and why, she finally got up slowly and started to wonder around. Once she finally made it out of the wooded area, she sees a large white house._

_ Walking towards the large house, she overhears loud voices coming from the backyard. As she walked into the backyard, she sees a bunch of children running around, laughing as they were having a good time. She soon sets her eyes on the same baby girl that was in her previous dream. She began to think to herself, 'Why does this baby keep appearing in my dreams?' She began to see a bunch of adults come out to join the children. As they playing, one of the children walked up to the baby and said,_

_ "Come on, Madison. You can play with us. You may be a small baby, but who says you can't join in on the fun?" Trying to get everyone else's attention,_

_ "Hey, everyone! Our little Addie-Maddie is going to join us."_

_ This caused Maddie to have her dark brown eyes to go big and had her mouth agape. She felt her legs starting to shake and had her hand on her heart. _

_ "Huh?"_

* * *

Maddie gasped as she jolted up from the couch she was napping on. As she slowly began to be more aware of her real surroundings, she pulls her throw blanket to the side and took deep breaths. She asked herself,

"What was that all about?"

* * *

The next day, the team members—minus Maddie, Rossi and Hotch—had gather in one of the meeting rooms. Now that Emily Prentiss had arrived, they now have everything they need to take down Jason Müller and Mason Meyer before they could even find or even get close Maddie. Reid was still thinking about one of the things he and Morgan talked about yesterday.

"Hey, Reid. What's wrong?" JJ noticed Reid's upset look.

"It's Maddie."

"You have to tell her." Morgan butted in.

"Tell who what?" Prentiss asked as she just walked in.

"That Maddie's adopted." JJ answered Prentiss' question. "I mean, Reid, at her age, it's the best time to tell her. According to an article I read in _Parents_ magazine, the earlier, the better. She's old enough to know the truth."

"After all, even at her age, she seems a _whole_ _lot_ smarter than you, Reid." Prentiss smirked, causing JJ and Morgan to snicker at what Prentiss just said. Reid just gave her a sarcastic look.

"Oh, how I miss your humor."

"Oh, how I miss your intelligence."

Taking what the group said to heart, Reid, along with JJ, Morgan and Prentiss, walked to the room where Maddie was in, but when they got to the room,

"Maddie? There's something I need to tell you…"

No one was in the room.

"Maddie? Where is she?"

* * *

Little did they know that Maddie was in the other room, trying to find her father or something else on the team. Instead, she found a room with a bunch of pictures. Walking into the room, she looks through the pictures and she couldn't believe it. There were a bunch of people in these photographs; most of them were children and some adults. She felt as if she seen these people before, especially the woman who had flawless tawny-copper-colored skin, piercing eyes and wild, curly black-brown hair. She looked like the woman from her other dreams, except the woman in her dream looked like an angel.

As Reid and the rest of the team rushed off to find Maddie, they noticed Garcia standing outside one of the meeting rooms. Asking her,

"Hey, Garcia," Reid said. "What happened? Where's Maddie?"

Garcia simply pointed at what was in the other room. He noticed Maddie in the other room, looking through the pictures of the family she lost to her biological father. Rushing into the room,

"Maddie?"

She slowly turned around to face Reid with one of the pictures in her hand. "I've been seeing these people in my dreams lately. And I've seen this lady in my dreams. Why do you have these photographs?"

Sighing before taking a deep breath, his team members were definitely right; he had to tell Maddie the truth. Closing the door behind him,

"Maddie? There's something I have to tell you."

* * *

**Unknown**

As someone dressed in a simple black shirt, jeans, Timberland boots and black aviator glasses, was sitting in the driver's seat of a black dented Mercedes Benz SUV, he was reading a book as he was impatiently waiting for someone to come out of the building.

Finally, someone dressed in all black and had black Ray-Ban sunglasses, gets in the passenger's seat after coming out of the building; he hands over a folder on the person's lap.

"Did you get it?"

The guy scoffed at his question. "Would I ever lie to you about something like this, Müller? Of course, I got it."

As Müller was going through the folder as he tossed the book in the backseat, which contained a bunch of photographs and other documents and papers, "Her name is Madison Jean. Not much information, though; just that she was adopted by a Dr. Spencer Reid a few years ago. He's an FBI agent who works at the BAU in Quantico, Virginia, which is about over a hundred miles from here."

Going through the photographs of Maddie, Müller had his mouth partially open and had a tear in his eye,

"Oh my god. She's so pretty. And she's getting so big."

"Hmm…yeah," He said, as he seemed to be uninterested and slightly bored. "So, what's the plan, Müller?"

"You said this Dr. Reid works at the BAU, right?"

Giving him a confused look on his face. "Is that not I what I just said seconds ago?"

"I think I have an idea, Meyer."

"I'm all ears, man."

**Please Review. I'm open to ideas and more inspiration for continuing my story.**


	6. Adoptive Truth

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone.**

**Anyway, thank you very much for your reviews and thank you to those we read, followed, favorite story/author alert and visited my story. I really do appreciate it. Sorry it took so long. I've been having writer's block and school. I look forward to hearing from all of you.**

**Now for this story, Reid finally tells the truth about Maddie and her family. There's going to a flashback involving Maddie and Reid. There's also a little Morgan/Reid moment. You'll find a little surprise at the end of this chapter with Maddie's birth dad and cell mate. **

**This chapter has been re-updated.**

**Please, do enjoy my story and please review****; constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**Chapter 6:**

_-_ _They may not have my eyes, they may not have my smile, but they have all my heart._

– _Unknown_

Reid took a deep breath as he sat down next to Maddie. He absolutely didn't want to tell her; he dreaded this time and day would come. But they were tracking down her biological father, who escaped from prison with the help of a powerful but dangerous, whom they put away. But his team members were right; he had to tell Maddie the truth.

"Maddie? Do you want to know why you've been having these dreams lately? And why you've been seeing these people in your dreams?"

Maddie simply nodded her head.

"Well…that's because…I'm not…your real father."

Maddie looked at Reid with her big dark brown eyes with a hint of worry.

"What do you mean, 'You're not my real father?' What are you trying to say?"

"What I'm trying to say is that…you're adopted. I adopted you."

"I'm adopted?"

"Yes."

Maddie just sat still. She opened and closed her mouth, but just couldn't get the words out. She even felt a tear in her eye. Finally,

"May I please ask you something?"

"Anything, Maddie." Reid said with the tears in his eyes.

"If you're not my real dad, then…what happened to my real family?"

Reid bit his lip as Maddie asked him that. He felt his team members' nerves rushing through their veins from the other side of the door. How was Reid supposed to tell her that her birth father killed all of them but Maddie? But he had to get it out there.

"Your mother, oldest brother and older younger fraternal twin brother and sister; they were all being threatened by a…very bad person. You were a newborn…after you spent a few months…inside your birth mother. When the threats became serious, especially after you were born, you and your siblings had to be separated from your mother until either the person would be caught or the threats were no longer happening, but unfortunately…"

He took another deep breath before continuing. And it wasn't going to be easy. "Your mother, brothers and sister, and everyone else in your family, including your grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles…they all…went to that big place in the sky called heaven. You survived that person because…you were in this truck chest inside a wicker basket wrapped in a pink blanket…which is where I found you. You were just three months old when it happened."

He felt the tennis ball in his throat. He thought telling Maddie about her family was hard, but it was just getting harder.

"When I found you in that truck chest, you were crying. I think it was because you felt something was wrong. I picked you up after setting you down on the table, touched your little hand and…you just smiled at me and immediately calmed down. After we got you checked out from the hospital, you were taken here under protective custody for a while until Children Protective Services came. Whenever anyone else tried to calm you down, you either kept crying, screaming or spit up. Soon you were taken to the local orphanage by CPS and you were placed in and out of five different foster homes for three months. Then when you were six months old, a judge granted me temporary custody of you and…I guess you can say the rest was history."

Maddie stared at Reid before setting her eyes on the floor. She had her fingers in her mouth when Reid gently set her eyes back on her.

"Madison Jean Reid…please, understand this, if you can: I may have not help make you, but I sure will always love you as if you were my own daughter. Please…" He felt the tears streaming down on his face as he began to hug her. "I don't want to lose you. Please…"

Maddie didn't know what to feel. The only thing she felt was…numbness, even after everything Reid has told her about her family. Finally,

"So…I'm the last survivor of my family?"

"Yes."

"May I please ask you one last question?"

"Of course, Maddie. Ask me anything."

"Where's my real dad? What happened to him?"

Reid's mouth slightly dropped when Maddie asked him about her birth father. He bit his lip down so hardly, it'll start bleeding. How could he tell her that he was the one responsible for their untimely deaths and horrific murders?

"Well, Maddie…let's just say…he's not around. He's…just not around."

"Okay." Maddie got up and before she left the room,

"Thank you for being honest with me."

She left the room, didn't even bother to see that Morgan, Garcia, JJ and Emily were standing to the side. She just needed time to digest what Reid had just said to her. Finally, as Rossi and Hotch walked by Maddie, they both noticed the look on her face. Turning to the members,

"What happened?"

"Reid just told Maddie she was adopted."

* * *

After a couple hours has passed, Reid was just sitting at his desk, trying to digest about what he told Maddie about her being had adopted, her family and parts about her biological father.

Come to think of it, he never really knew how to tell Maddie her biological roots someday. He could remember it as if it was just yesterday.

* * *

_**Over four-and-a-half years ago…**_

_ The team, especially Reid, had a rough two-to-three days, hunting down an unsub in Washington D.C. who was committing crimes while being under the influence. Finally, after they caught the unsub, after picking Maddie up from her nanny, he took her home, made sure she was well fed and relaxed. He sat down on the couch with her in his arms,_

_ "Hey there, Maddie. I had a rough few days. Luckily, that's all over for now and I'm here with you. I have an idea: what do you say we…"_

_ Knock, knock, knock. _

_ Carrying Maddie in his arms as he planned to answer the door,_

_ "I wonder who that could be, Maddie?" He said as he was looking through the peephole. Opening the door, he notices a UPS box on his doorstep with his address. Setting the box on the coffee table before setting Maddie down on the couch,_

_ "Hey, Maddie. What do you think is in this box?" He asked her as he was opening it._

_ "Baba." Maddie babbled as she was holding on to her pink plush bear._

_ "There's no baby in here, but good guess though." Reid chuckled._

_ "A dolly."_

_ "Another good guess, but no." Finally opening the box,_

_ "It's a book." Sitting down on the couch as Reid brings Maddie on his lap._

_ "And it's a very special book. On a topic…called adoption."_

_ Maddie just looked at him with her dark brown eyes as she has her little fingers in her mouth._

_ "I know you're still too young to understand what the word 'adoption' means, but…hopefully someday…you'll know what it means."_

_ Maddie slowly put her small head on his chest. Reid chuckled as he pets her head._

_ "I know I may not be part of your biological roots, but I want you to know I will always love you; no matter what." As he prepares to read Maddie the book,_

_ "You can even help me by turning the pages for me."_

_ Maddie babbles at him happily and Reid chuckles as he strokes his fingers through her hair._

_ "I love you."_

_ He kissed the top of Maddie's head as he starts to read to her._

_**Flashback end…**_

* * *

All of a sudden, Reid starts to hear an echo-like sound.

"Reid? Reid? Pretty boy?"

"What? Wh…" Reid snaps out of his thoughts when he saw Morgan standing over him.

"Are you okay?"

Shrugging his shoulders as he sighed, he put his hand on his head with his elbow on his bullpen desk.

"You did the right thing by telling her."

"I don't know if I did. I mean…I didn't want to tell her much about her real dad; only because..."

"As far as I'm concerned, you are her real father. She wanted you to take care of her when you found her in that trunk chest. When all of us and most of her other caretakers tried to calm her down, you were the only one that could. You fed her, took care of her and most importantly, gave her a hell of a lot of love. Her family would be incredibly proud of you. I bet they're looking down on you two right now."

Giving him a smirk, "I guess you're right. I just hope she does."

"She does, but like you, she's trying to…understand what's going happening."

"Yeah." Morgan walks back to his bullpen desk to get some last minute work done. Reid continued to think about as he thought about what Morgan said. He both hoped and prayed Maddie would still think of him as her father.

* * *

The next day was still a bit awkward for both Maddie and Reid. Come to think of it, they haven't said a word to each other since Reid told Maddie she was adopted by him and how she lost her family. Reid wanted to take Maddie to school himself, but still wanted to give Maddie some space and asked JJ to give Maddie a ride to school after she dropped off Henry.

Once she got to Maddie's school, she parked the car and waited for Maddie to unbuckle herself from the backseat. Noticing Maddie had that sad look on her face from the reflection mirror, she turned her head,

"Hey, Maddie. You okay?"

She nodded her head as she had her head down.

"You know your daddy love you, right?"

"I know and I do, too. I'm just…"

"Trying to understand what he told you?"

"Yes."

"Well, all I can tell you is that he will always love you, no matter what."

"Same here."

"Good." JJ smiled. "Now have a good day at school."

"I will, Aunt JJ." Maddie said as she opened the door, but before she could leave for school,

"Oh, Maddie? One more thing?" She hands Maddie a silver necklace with a whistle attached to it and put a small cell phone in her hand. Giving her a confused face on her face,

"Uncle Morgan and Aunt Garcia thought it would be a good idea for you to have them. Remember, if you feel threatened or some stranger tries to approach you, blow into this and this phone is only supposed to be used for emergencies only."

As JJ began to hug Maddie,

"We'll pick up and see you when you get out of school. Behave and be good to your teachers and fellow classmates, okay?"

"I will, Aunt JJ."

JJ smiled as she saw Maddie made her way through the school's front school before walking back to her car. As she drove off, she saw a couple of black cars parked in front of the school. She knew who they were: they were the security for Maddie, in case Maddie's biological father and Mason Meyer came anywhere near her. She hoped and prayed they wouldn't come near her.

They do not want to face the wrath of the BAU team.

* * *

**Unknown**

_Click, click, click, click, click._

As someone dressed in black clothes was taking pictures of Maddie with their high-tech camera with the tinted windows were slightly down from the passenger seat, someone else, also dressed in black clothing and sunglasses, was munching on a breakfast burrito, finally said,

"So, what's the plan, Müller? Are we going to go after her right now?"

Finally putting the camera down as he put on his dark sunglasses,

"We still can't go through with this plan right now, Meyer."

"What do you mean 'we can't go through with this plan right now,' Müller. I mean, seriously…"

Looking at him, "We wait until the right moment, Meyer. Like you said before, you can't rush perfection. This plan needs to go according to plan…perfectly."

Meyer proudly smirked at him when he quoted what he said to him in the beginning. He was right. This plan had to work perfectly.

**Please Review. I'm open to ideas and more inspiration for continuing my story.**


	7. The Return of

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone.**

**Anyway, thank you very much for your reviews and thank you to those we read, followed, favorite story/author alert and visited my story. I really do appreciate it. Sorry it took so long. I've been having writer's block for a while and school as it is almost the end of the spring semester. I look forward to hearing from all of you.**

**Now for this story, there will be scenes involving the team, Maddie's birth dad and cell mate and another cliffhanger.**

**This chapter has been re-updated.**

**Please, do enjoy my story and please review****; constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**Chapter 7:**

_-_ _Smile... heaven is watching. _

_\- African Proverb_

After that morning talk with JJ and the talk with Reid about her biological family yesterday, Maddie decides to put those thoughts out of her mind for a while and try to focus on one of her favorite things in the world: learning and at school, one of her favorite places to be. After she greeted the rest of her classmates and put her backpack away, she went to her assigned desk and watched for her teacher to get started.

Maddie's teachers, Miss. Irwin, dressed in a black knee-length dress with white polka dots, cardigan sweater and flats with her hair in a simple ponytail, began greeting her small students and told them that they had thirty minutes to themselves before they began today's lesson. As the small students wonder around the classroom, Maddie grabbed a couple sheets of papers and a big box of Crayola crayons–with the built-in sharper–from the supply box and began to draw.

As Miss. Irwin walked around the room, she checked up on Maddie, who was still drawing. As she looked over Maddie's shoulder to see her drawing. She sees a picture with someone in the park looking up to the sky with a bunch of clouds, the sun, and a bunch of people in the sky, dressed as angels with their wings and halos. Feeling curious,

"Maddie?"

Maddie got a little spook when Miss. Irwin was standing behind her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I scare you?"

"Just a little bit."

Knelling down to look over Maddie's picture,

"That's a pretty picture you're drawing."

"Thank you."

She decides to get up to give Maddie some time to herself again and to make sure the other students weren't getting into any kind of trouble.

* * *

_Click, click, click, click, click._

Someone continued to take pictures of Maddie by the window with their high-tech camera with the tinted windows were slightly down from the passenger seat. Someone else, also dressed in black clothing and sunglasses, was flossing their teeth with a toothpick while typing away on their laptop, finally said,

"Now are we going to go after her?"

Finally putting the camera down as he put on his dark sunglasses,

"Not just yet."

"What do you mean 'Not just yet,' Müller? I don't know about you, but I'm the kind of the person who gets annoyed and impatient very quickly and very easily. Seriously, man…"

Looking at him, "I'm waiting for the perfect moment, Meyer. Like you said before, you can't rush perfection."

Meyer impatiently groaned with annoyance as he tosses his toothpick, typing away on his laptop, finally cracking into computer codes.

* * *

**A couple hours later**

Reid was finishing up some last minute paperwork he needed to get done by the end of the day. As he was working, he stopped himself for a moment. He couldn't stop thinking about Maddie. It was already bad enough the situation with her escaped birth father, but he had his strange feeling. He felt something was going to happen. And it made him sick to his stomach. Finally,

"Pretty boy?"

Looking up, it was Morgan with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"You already?"

"I'm worried about Maddie. I don't know why, but I just…"

"Look, she'll be fine. She has security watching outside the school, that whistle and one of Garcia's cell phones JJ gave her this morning, and more importantly, she has us."

"I guess so, man. But still…"

"She'll be alright; she's a trooper. If anything, she'll call us. We're going to make sure those two bastards don't come near her or so much as to lay some much as a fingernail on her."

"I hope you're right, Morgan."

* * *

**A couple hours later**

_ RIIIINNNGGG!_

"Okay, students," Miss. Irwin said as she stood up from her teacher's desk. "We'll continued with the rest of today's math lesson right after your lunch and recess breaks."

She watched some of the students either grab their lunch, put away from of the supplies off their assigned tables or headed out the door to go down to the cafeteria. As she gathered some items from her desk, she saw Maddie quietly sat at her desk, looking over the picture she drew this morning.

She wondered what was going on with Maddie. Normally, she would have her hand up for every question thrown at her, being über-excited when she was being called. She remembered the first time she met her. She threw a randomly hard math question and while the students were laughing, she got the answer right. She threw another hard math question at her and she got the right answer again. Maddie told her she read a book about mathematics and how much she loves reading and wanting to read anything.

Instead, today was…meek and quiet. She walked to her desk and knelled down, so she could try and talk to her.

* * *

_Click, click, click, click, click._

Someone continued to take pictures of Maddie and Miss. Irwin with their high-tech camera with the tinted windows were slightly down from the passenger seat. Someone else, also dressed in black clothing and sunglasses, cracking into random codes, finally said with a smirk,

"Get ready, Meyer; it's time to put this plan into action."

Meyer proudly smirked at him, turning to the backseat to see a black duffle bag before typing away into his laptop; hacking into a highly-private and highly-secured security network.

* * *

"Hey, Maddie." She began to start a conversation with her as she noticed a slight frown on her face. "Are you okay?"

Maddie remained silent as she shrugged her shoulders. Looking down at her picture,

"Who's this is the picture?" She points to the person looking up. "Is that you?"

"Yes."

"And who are these in the sky? Are they angels?"

"You can say that."

"I understand what you're saying in this picture,"

"You do?" Maddie said, with a little glint in her eyes.

* * *

Suddenly a tall figure in all black walks into the school. Walking by the office and as he was walking into one of the halls,

"Hey!"

A uniformed security guard spots him. He immediately stands in his position, but not before putting his hand into his pocket.

"You have any kind of ID?"

Before he could even answer him, he gives him a couple of knockout punches before shoving a needle in his neck.'

* * *

"You're looking up at the angels above as the ones are watching over you because you feel lonely without them. I don't want to…intrude into your life, but…did you…lose someone?"

Maddie looked at her teacher with her dark brown eyes wide out as she bit her lip. She just simply nodded her head.

"Well, I'm sorry you had, but just to let you know, they're always looking down on you and the ones who love you right back right now, wanting you to be happy. They'll never leave you, no matter what." She gives Maddie a small smile.

"Wow. Thank you, Miss. Irwin."

"Anytime, Maddie. Now, go have lunch and recess."

Maddie chuckled. What Miss. Irwin cheered her up a little bit, if not a whole lot. She cleaned up her desk space and went to the bathroom to wash her hands, but not before grabbing her black messenger bag from her coat space.

* * *

Suddenly, the tall figure finally makes their way one of the classroom door. Opening the door, the person is…

"Excuse me? Can I help you?"

After Maddie was done with washing her hands, she was about to open the door when…

"Oh!"

* * *

She gasped as she jumped. She creakily opens the door, only to see her teacher being knocked around someone in all black. Quietly closing the door, she leaned against the door, biting her nails. She suddenly remembers the cell phone Aunt JJ gave her this morning. Searching through her bag, she puts the silver whistle in her jeans pocket before finally finding the cell phone.

She scrolls down the BAU contact list and randomly presses someone's name; she didn't care who. Whoever's phone went to voice mail.

"Please! Someone pick up!" After she heard the beep, she sighs in relief, but before she could even say anything,

"Ahhh!"

**Please Review. I'm open to ideas and more inspiration for continuing my story.**


	8. Operation: Bring Maddie Home

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone.**

**Anyway, thank you very much for your reviews and thank you to those we read, followed, favorite story/author alert and visited my story. I really do appreciate it. **

**Sorry if I'm going to take long to update the next chapter. I have school as it is almost the end of the spring semester, which mean finals are coming soon for me. Wish me luck! I do look forward to hearing from all of you.**

**Now for this chapter, I don't want to spoil too much, but let's just say you're going to see some angry Morgan.**

**This chapter has been re-updated.**

**Please, do enjoy my story and please review****; constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**Chapter 8:**

_-_ _Protecting children from any sort of abuse is a duty of every citizen._

_\- Unknown_

Reid sighed off on one of his reports before taking a small break. Despite his team's protest that his young daughter Maddie would be fine, especially with the security protection she had, he decided to check up on her. He knew in his heart and mind it was the best thing to do. As he was walking towards the elevator, he reaches into his pocket and grabs his cell phone. He noticed that he had a voicemail not so long ago.

As he was getting into the elevator, he calls his voicemail to figure out who's called him.

"Ahhh! Help!"

His eyes went into wide out worry mode as he knew exactly who that was.

Before the elevator doors could get the chance to close on him, he forces them open and rushes back to the bullpen.

"Guys! Guys!"

JJ was the first to notice him panicking as he ran through the glass doors after he practically bumped into them.

"Reid!"

Reid began to hyperventilate and could hardly catch his breath. The team began to notice Reid and by trying to calm to down, they made him sit in a chair.

"Reid! Just calm down! What's wrong?"

"J-just l-listen to this! Just listen!"

He replays the voicemail for the team that he had just received on his phone.

"Ahhh! Help!"

The team stood in complete breathless awe and looking at each other as they all knew who was screaming.

"Oh my god!" Garcia said as she had one of her hands on her heart and the other hand on Morgan's shoulder.

"That was…"

"Maddie."

Morgan had every vein, muscle and thought running through every part, even the tiniest parts of his body, fuming and firing with both rage and anger just kicked into overdrive.

"Oh, it's _on_ now!" Morgan said, slamming his fist on top of his desk. "I'm going to _murder_ Meyer and Müller!"

"Hotch!" Emily said as she just walked into the bullpen. "We just got a call from Maddie's school. She wasn't at the cafeteria and there were also a few attacks there, including one involving her teacher."

"Alright, that's it," Hotch just went into full-on Hotch mode. "Fill in the Chief Director! Call in SWAT teams, rescue teams! Put out an AMBER Alert! Put all hands on standby, one of my agents' children taken! When was the last time anyone saw her?"

"This morning when I dropped her off at school. She attends the Lockwood School." JJ said, getting everything she and the team needed from her desk.

"Put it on the radio. My team, weapons and vans, sirens and flashers. Right now, I don't give a damn about protocol, I don't give a damn about whatever we were working on; we don't even so much as _touch_ a new case until we get Maddie home! Let's move out! Garcia!"

Garcia turns to look directly at Hotch,

"You're coming with us. We're going to need your help to bring Maddie home."

* * *

Driving at least fifty miles an hour on a long road pathway, Meyer had his ice blue eyes focused on the road as Müller calmly placed his cloth along with the sweet smell bottle in the gloved compartment. After a moment of silence,

"The plan was decently executed. If I were your teacher on how to pull off a kidnapping, I would give you…hmmm…maybe a B, at least."

"Gee, thanks, Meyer." Müller sarcastically said. He later turned to the backseat to see an unconscious Maddie in the middle seat.

"How long do you think she'll be unconscious?"

"Long enough to get to a motel for the night before we drive out to one of my other places for a while. We could stop at least get some food on the way."

Maddie began to slowly open her eyes, but for some reason, her mind felt so…tired and weak…just so overwhelmingly tired and weak. She soon fell into another deep unconscious. Müller reached his cold hand as he soon began to stork though Maddie's hair, touching her cheek with his cold fingers.

"It's alright. It's okay, little Maddie. Daddy's here. Your real daddy is here for you."

* * *

Once the BAU reached to Maddie's school, they advised with the school's headmistress to let the students and teachers out early, have early dismissals for the rest of the week and to remind calm. There was also a number of camera and reporters outside the school. Once all the teachers and students cleared out of the school ground, Hotch told Rossi and Morgan to investigate Maddie's classroom.

Once Garcia set up her laptop and other computer equipment, she searched through the school's security cameras. So far, all she got were the outside cameras. She paused it when,

"I think I got something."

Hotch, JJ, Emily and Reid–who had Emily and JJ keeping him steady on his feet. All of them gasped when they watched Müller escaping though the classroom windows—carrying with what appears to be an unconscious Maddie—in his arms. They later see him putting Maddie in the backseat of a black car as there's someone else seating in the driver's seat and sees them speeding off.

"Oh my god!" She cried. "I can't get the license plates or a clear shot of their faces. I…"

"The most important thing is that she's alive and unharmed." Emily said, rubbing both Garcia's and Reid's shoulders. "We have to focus that. Keep on working, Garcia."

"But for how long?" Reid said, biting down on his nails before putting his hand on his head, running through his hair.

* * *

Rossi and Morgan went over to Maddie's classroom as Hotch directed them to. They both put on gloves and searched for signs of Maddie's abduction.

"There seems to be signs of a struggle," Rossi said, looking around the teacher's desk with all the papers and supplies off the desk, looking askew. "My guess the teacher put up quite a fight."

Morgan headed over to the bathroom, only to find Maddie's bag, filled with neutral-colored folders, books and other papers, on the floor. He solely focused on that when,

"Rossi!" Rushing over to his side,

"What's that?" He asked, pointing to a dark reddish color by the door.

"It looks like…"

"You don't think that he–did he–?"

"He wouldn't." Morgan began to shake his head, slowly walking away, running his hands through the back of his neck. Out of nowhere, a muscle in his neck twitched before kicking a few chairs and even a desk down.

"You have to stay calm!"

"_Don't_…tell me how to feel," Morgan snapped at him before taking a deep sigh. "Rossi, I'm telling you, when I get my hands on those two sack loads of crap, I'm going to beat the living and lifeless hell out of the both of them. And don't have anyone try and stop me."

"Oh, I most definitely wouldn't, but save that kind of energy for when we find Maddie and those two jag-offs."

"I wouldn't let those goons hurt her. I wouldn't." He said, storming out of the classroom.

* * *

At the front of the school, a bunch of cameras and reporters were waiting for the BAU team to give a statement. As always, JJ addresses to the media,

"We are looking for this young girl. Her name is Madison Jean Reid," Holding up a recent picture of Maddie. "Around the age of five-and-a-half, has dark brown eyes, long medium brown hair, around three feet and nine inches, weights forty pounds, was last seen here. Please, any information, regarding of this girl's whereabouts would be helpful. Thank you."

Noticing Morgan and Rossi walking out of the school,

"Did you guys get anything?"

"Signs of a struggle for the teacher and blood on the bathroom door; we don't know if it's Maddie's or not."

"The guards who were supposed to be watching Maddie were knocked out with tear gas and injected with a shot of flunitrazepam."

"The date rape drug?"

"Yes. They soon regain consciousness, but when they woke up, they had no clear memory of what happened."

"Let's head down to the hospital and see if you can get anything from the teacher."

* * *

JJ and Emily walked into the hospital and made their way to talk to Maddie's teacher. They knocked on the door to see a petite nurse and tall man comforting her.

"Excuse me, Miss. Irwin? I'm Emily Prentiss and this is Jennifer Jareau. We're with the FBI. Would it be okay if we ask you a few questions about Maddie?"

"I don't think it's a good idea," the gentleman said, "I mean…she needs to rest."

"No, Tommy. It's okay. Anything to help them find Maddie."

The nurse nodded as she left the room and Tommy stood by her. "What can you remember before you ended up here?"

"Well…Maddie was finishing up this picture she drew today and we talked for a few minutes about it. She went to the bathroom and I was about to grab my lunch when this man walked in the room. I assume he was one of my students' guardians or parents, but out of nowhere, he starts attacking me, knocking me around. When I woke up…I ended up here."

"Maddie drew a picture?"

"Yes. It was…someone by themselves…looking up to the angels in the sky."

"The person who attacked you, do you know what he looked like?"

Shrugging her shoulders as she began to tear up, "I…I can't remember. Oh, I'm sorry…"

"It's okay. We're going to bring Maddie back."

* * *

Sitting down in the backseat of the SUV, Reid reached into his bag and pulled a small album of photos. Each and every one of these photos, were Maddie either by herself, her with him or with the team, laughing or smiling.

The other side of the album were Maddie's biological family. From her day of her birth to the very last photo of her with them. There was even a three month old Maddie with her mother, older siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents. Once Morgan noticed Reid looking at those photos, on the verge of tearing up,

"We're going to bring Maddie home, man. We promise."

* * *

Maddie groaned as she was trying to be aware of her surroundings and sluggishly opened her eyes. She found herself laying down on a single bed with peeling wallpaper and dirty carpeting. Fluttering her eyes, she sees a man with short blond hair, blue eyes, standing over her,

"Hey there, little one." He smiled as he began to stroke her hair, causing her to try and lean away. She soon found her wrists to be restrained by white cable ties in front of her body and a leather belt tied around her. "It's nice to see you awake and alive."

"You kidnapped me," Maddie said as she pulls on her restraints. "This is both a federal and state crime, not to mention there's a big chance you'll get twenty years to life in a federal or state prison."

"It'll be okay. It'll be all okay…" He said as he tried to stroke her hair, only to get pulled away from her. "Don't…pull away from me…again." He grabs her arms in an iron grip.

"Please…"

"Don't pull away again! Do you understand?" He squeezes her arm even tighter and his tone of voice was quiet with a seething anger.

"Please…stop…" She shrieked a bit.

"I said…do you understand?!"

"Okay! Okay! I won't and I'm sorry! Please let go of my arm! Please…" She could feel the tears fogging her eyes.

Maddie looked at him with fear and she could sense of crazy madness, especially in his eyes. She couldn't understand why, but she had this other sense that for some reason…she knows who he is. Calming himself down, he released his grip on her arm, which left a slight bruise, and began to stroke her face. She stilled under his cold touch.

"Good girl and I'm sorry I did that to you. Now because you've apologized, I'm going take those nasty restraints off you now. As long as you do what I say, these will always be off and nothing bad will happen, okay?" Maddie nodded her head as he began to take the restraints off her. "Would you like anything to eat? Something to drink?"

"No…no, thank you, sir."

"Well then…it's almost time for bed, now, isn't it?"

Maddie's lip quivered as she nodded her head in agreement.

"Yeah, I guess it is." He gently pets her hair, even though she felt completely uncomfortable. But she definitely knew that she didn't want to have the restraints on her again, so she went along with it. He goes as far as to trying to kiss her head and tuck her in, but slightly pulled away,

"I…uh…I can do myself, thank you."

Again, he strokes her head and chuckles to himself,

"You're little Miss. Independent, aren't you?"

Getting up from the bed to go to the door, but before leaving,

"Good night, little one."

"Good night to you, too, sir."

She could hear the click of him locking the door shut from the other side. She felt a tear streaming down on her face as she felt completely alone; no one she knew was here with her. All she could think of was if anyone was going to rescue and save her from this strange person she just had an encounter with. She wanted someone to hold her hand or hold her in her arms. Biting down on her nails, she turned her body around as she lay down, she could see the moon. A bright, shiny full moon. She already said good night to all the people in her life, but there was just one more person she needed to say good night to.

"Good night, daddy."

* * *

"Good night, Maddie."

Reid said as he saw the full moon from the window of the place he and the team where staying in. He felt a tear coming down on his face. He was more than determined to bring Maddie home and safe.

He promised himself he would keep Maddie safe, no matter what.

**Please Review.**


	9. Bringing Maddie home continues

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone.**

**Anyway, thank you very much for your reviews and thank you to those we read, followed, favorite story/author alert and visited my story. I really do appreciate it. **

**Sorry if I've been taking long to update this chapter. It's the end of the spring semester, which meant finals. Wish me luck! I do look forward to hearing from all of you.**

**Now for this chapter, I don't want to spoil too much, but let's just say you're going to see some more angry Morgan and a couple of heartwarming moments.**

**Please, do enjoy my story and please review****; constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**This chapter has been re-updated.**

**Chapter 9:**

_-_ _Parents learn a lot from their children about coping with life._

_\- Muriel Spark_

Garcia was typing away on her laptop to no end. She, as well as the rest of the team was as determined to bring Maddie home safe and sound. Rossi walked into the room where most of the team was at and bring them coffee.

"Thanks, Rossi," Emily said, taking one of the coffee mugs. "Appreciate it."

"No problem," Rossi said as he sat down on the brown couch. "I figure we're going to need all the energy and strength we need until we find those two jag-offs."

"I don't know about you guys, but I can't wait until we find them." Morgan agreed, repeatedly pounding his fist into his palm. "When I get my hands on those rat bastards, I'm going to beat them mercilessly and senselessly. You all better not stop me when I do."

"Oh, don't worry, we won't," JJ said, walking into the room. "That was Henry and Will."

"What'd they say?"

"Henry and Michael said good night to all of us and do whatever it takes to bring Maddie home. Morgan, if this makes you feel better, Will also said goodnight when you find Müller and Meyer, give them a dozen special kicks in the nuts for him."

"I most certainly will."

When the team went to check up on Reid, they all look at him with complete worry. Reid was nervously biting down on his nails and lip, clinging onto the small album. He couldn't eat, nap or even drink sugary coffee. He couldn't help but think that something terrible could be happening. They could see tears coming down steady. They remembered how he was when he lost Maeve. They couldn't bear to imagine what he would be like if he lost Maddie…

The team all made a pact to protect Maddie…

* * *

_**Over four-and-a-half years ago…**_

_ It was Christmas time in Virginia. Which meant the snow was slowly coming down, the Christmas lights was brightening up every window and children making their lists to Santa and his little elves, but the best parts were that there were no unsubs to deal with. It was also the time for JJ to host a Christmas party for the team._

_ JJ, with the help of Henry, Michael and Will, was putting up Christmas ornaments on the tall tree in the living room until she hears a knocking on the front door. Walking to the door to answer it,_

_ "Hey!"_

_ It was Reid, holding on to a blue Christmas bag in his arm while holding on to a ten-month-old Maddie, dressed in a red tartan dress, black stockings and booties with a little dark blue bow in her hair._

_ "Hey to you all and Merry Christmas!"_

_ "Merry Christmas to you, too."_

_ "Uncle Spencer!"_

_ "Henry! Michael! Merry Christmas to you!"_

_ Before JJ could close the door, Morgan and Garcia; with the both of them dressed as younger versions of Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus, walking up the pathway. Walking with their arms wrapped around each other, Garcia walked in with a bunch of bags hanging from her arms while Morgan carried a number of bags._

_ "Hey and oh, oh, oh! Merry Christmas!"_

_ "Merry Christmas, my tiny elves!"_

_ "Aunt Garcia!"_

_ "Hello, little Henry and Michael! Merry Christmas from Mrs. Santa Claus, your godmother!"_

_ "What about us?"_

_ Hotch, with Jack by his side and Emily, walking up the pathway before stepping inside._

_ "Hotch! Emily! Jack! Merry Christmas to you all!"_

_ "Sorry to say, but Rossi can't make it. Christmas with his daughter and family."_

_ "That's okay." As Reid was settling down with Maddie on the couch,_

_ "Uh…I have an announcement to make." Everyone looked at him._

_ "You know I've been taking care of Maddie for a few months. Well, I've been thinking about this for a while now…and now, I plan on adopting her as my own."_

_ Everyone's mouths, especially Morgan's and Garcia's mouths, dropped to the ground. JJ and Emily covered her mouth in complete shock. Hotch's facial expressions didn't seem to change much._

_ "You are?"_

_ "Yeah," Reid said as he was rocking Maddie on his lap as she was cooing. "And I was wondering if…you all would like to be her god-family. I know it wouldn't replace the family lost to her biological father, but I want her to know that she'll always have family with her."_

_ "Of course we'll be her god-family," Morgan chuckling as he strokes through Maddie's hair. "And I promise you; we're going to protect her from anything that comes in our way."_

_ "Yay! I have another godchild!" Garcia said, jumping up and down, clapping. "Why do you think I have all these gifts with me?"_

_ "Don't tell me all that's for Maddie."_

_ "Of course not."_

_ The team sighed in relief before,_

_ "A quarter of these presents are for Henry and Michael." The team, mainly Reid, looked at her with complete baffled looks on their faces. "Hey! As one of the godmothers, it's my job to spoil the child with love and gifts and one of my first gifts to Maddie is…give me my goddaughter…" Taking Maddie from Reid's hands before going through one of her bags,_

_ "…This gorgeous gift box set from Ralph Lauren! And it was on sale, too! Isn't that exciting, you massive adorable pot of bubbly deliciousness?"_

_ "Remind me after the holidays to have her drug-tested a couple times."_

_ "I can definitely do that."_

_**Flashback end…**_

* * *

The team hated to see him like this. But it just fueled their drive and determination to bring Maddie safe home.

"Guys!" Garcia called everyone. "I think I got something."

Hotch, Rossi, Morgan JJ, Emily and Reid–who had Emily and JJ keeping him steady on his feet. "I just recently found out that there was broke-in at the adoption agency offices and copies of Maddie's information were stolen, from her adoption papers, photographs of her. You name it, they took it."

"That must be how Müller and Meyer found her and how she looked like."

"I found some traffic camera footage."

"Go to the morning where I dropped Maddie at school after I dropped Henry."

Watching over to the computer screen as Garcia played the video. They all see JJ walking to the SVU with Maddie. They also start to see two cars following them before seeing an extra black car following them. The window was slightly down and they see two figures with their black sunglasses on following them.

"Müller and Meyer followed you two," Hotch said. "That's how they found her."

Reid couldn't take it anymore. Pulling himself away from JJ and Prentiss,

"I…I can't…I just can't…"

"Reid, calm down."

Reid could feel the tears coming down from his eyes as he crossed his arms. He could feel the cracks in his voice, "I want her back. I want to hold her in my arms."

As Morgan reached out and began to hug him,

"I know, man. We all, especially you, taught her well…"

Prentiss joined in on the hug, "He's just as smart as you…"

"She's as tough as me," Hotch joined.

"We all love her very much. We all do." JJ joined. "We all know that and Maddie knows that, too."

"We'll get her back, Reid." Rossi and Garcia joined. "I know we will."

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm not going to rest until we bring our girl home."

* * *

** Unknown**

By the next morning, Maddie was just conscious enough to hear something. It only took her a few moments for her to remember what was going without having the fog cloud up those thoughts. One of the last things she could remember was that she was taken from her school and was with complete strangers. She hoped someone would rescue her from his nightmare and never let her go again,

But then—

"Morning little one…Did you have a good night rest?"

She could feel him running his fingers through her hair.

"Please…please stop that. Please…"

She began to have that feeling again. The feeling of being so …tired and weak…just so overwhelmingly tired and weak. She soon fell into another deep unconscious. Müller reached his cold hand as he continued to stork though Maddie's hair, touching her cheek with his cold fingers. All of a sudden, an idea clicked in his head. Leaving the room to find Meyer, causally watching something on the small television,

"Meyer? You're a technology whiz, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I need your help with something."

* * *

Garcia, with Morgan looking over her shoulders, was typing away as she gulped down her second cup of coffee when her computer screen goes completely black.

"What…? What happened?"

"I…I don't…"

All of a sudden, she and Morgan come across at one of the darkest yet gruesome scenes they've ever encountered yet. She gasped in shocking horror at the sight of Maddie, who was lying apparently unconscious on a bed with her birth father, Jason Müller, with her.

"Oh my…"

"Guys! Get in here! Quick!"

Rushing over, they all gasped in horror, especially Reid, who had JJ and Prentiss keeping him steady as they felt him about to collapse on the ground.

"Oh god! Can't you track them?" Prentiss asked with panic in her voice.

"I can't," Garcia answered. "They're streaming from their computer."

"This is for us. They know we're looking for her." Rossi said.

"I'm going to enjoy beating these bastards senselessly." Morgan said, fueling with anger.

"Why can't you locate her?" Hotch asked.

"I can't get a pinpoint location on them; they're rerouting every ten seconds."

All they could do now is watch and see what was going on.

"_Hello, BAU. It is I, Jason Müller. Here I am, with my beautiful, precious daughter. Doesn't she look so peaceful when she sleeps?_"

"Oh, Maddie!" Garcia cried out, biting down on her nails.

All of a sudden, Müller storks his cold fingers on Maddie's face before running through her long medium brown hair and began to feel it with his face, causing Morgan to keep control of himself to stop the anger that was bubbling inside.

"_Oh, she has such long, lovely hair. What does she use? Smells like she uses the kind my beloved wife used before her untimely death._"

"You murdered her mother and three of your children, along with the rest of the family, bastard!" JJ yelled at the screen.

"_Anyway, I just wanted you to know that you'll never find us, no matter how much you try. You'll never find us. Never. Ta-ta._"

The video cuts out as the screen go back. Morgan storms out of the room and kicks the door, causing one of the hinges to fly out. JJ and Prentiss took Reid out of the room for a while.

* * *

"Sleep now, dear. I'll still be here when you wake up."

As Müller tucks in a sleeping Maddie, kissing her head, he goes back into the living room, where Meyer is standing by the door.

"I'm going to take a walk around here."

"Take your time, man."

"Be back in a few minutes."

Settling himself down on the couch, he starts flipping through random channels before settling on the Channel 7 Eyewitness News.

"_Our top story tonight,_" said a male reporter as the camera was shaky, "_An AMBER alert is on high alert for the kidnapping of a young girl by the name of Madison Jean Reid…_" It cut to a picture of a current Maddie.

"_…The daughter of a federal FBI agent. Madison was also the sole survivor of the family massacre caused by her biological father, Jason Müller, who had escaped from Harrington Penitentiary, along with Mason Meyer, who was charged with multiple counts and charges of sexual assault. Meyer also put a hit out of an infant…_" It cuts to pictures of Müller and Meyer's mug shots, Maddie's biological family and a picture of an eight-month-old infant girl. "_Federal agents are asking for any information regarding to this young girl and those responsible…_"

"Hey, Müller," Meyer said, calling from outside. "I need your help with something."

"Yeah. I'll be right out."

Before leaving to help Meyer, Müller had to get something…because he too, needed to take care of something.

**Please review.**


	10. Still trying to bring Maddie home

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone.**

**Anyway, thank you very much for your reviews and thank you to those who read, followed, favorite story/author alert and visited my story. I really do appreciate it. I do look forward to hearing from all of you.**

**Now for this chapter, I don't want to spoil too much, but let's just say you're going to see DOUBLE cliffhangers in the end.**

**This chapter has been re-updated.**

**Please, do enjoy my story and please review****; constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**Chapter 10:**

_-_ _The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them. _

_\- Frank A. Clark_

Morgan was outside, taking his frustrations out of a block of wood. He needed to clear his head. He needed to get his hands on Müller and Meyer, mainly Müller. All that rage from watching Maddie with him made him want to explode hell out. He figured he needed to hit something. He kept on pounding and pounding on it until he hears,

"Easy there, tough guy."

He turns around and he sees Emily with her arms folded and Rossi with his hands in his pockets. They could clearly see him taking his anger out on the wood. Nevertheless, he just kept on pounding it.

"You know, taking your rage out on a piece of tree is not going to bring Maddie back." Rossi said.

"Thank you, Captains Obvious."

"There are other ways of dealing with this, you know. You could try talking…"

"I don't need to talk or anything else," Morgan snaps at them before stopping. "We all need to find Maddie and we have nothing. _Nothing, damn it!_" He returns to pounding the wood.

"Morgan…"

Throwing the wood block, nearly hitting Prentiss, "Did you not see the way he was feeling her hair with his face, touching her little face with his cold filthy hands? Huh?! You don't understand…"

"I did see what Müller did and I do understand…"

"No, you don't, Prentiss. You just don't. And you never will." He leaves the wood right where it is to go and check up on Reid with Hotch.

* * *

After taking a small break, Garcia, with JJ by her side, returns to her computer, but not before she sees Morgan,

"Hey, big boy."

"Yeah, hey."

Garcia's slight smile turned into a full-on frown. Normally, Morgan would refer to her as 'baby girl' or 'sweetheart,' but ever since Maddie's abduction, some things have changed and she didn't like it. JJ comforted her as she sat down.

"Hey, let him be. There's a good reason for the way he's acting like that. I mean, if it was either Henry, Michael or Will…I would have _murdered_ somebody."

Garcia snickered as she began to type away. "Did you get anything?"

"No. I just can't get anything. I can't believe it; Meyer is a drop-out from Caltech and MIT and I can't get anything on the location of where they could be with Maddie." Garcia said, on the brink of tears. "Damn, I feel so…so…so useless and hopeless."

"Don't say that, Garcia. We're going to get Maddie home and when we do, you can spoil her with oodles of gifts, books and love."

* * *

Walking down the hallway, Morgan stops when he sees Hotch coming out of one of the rooms,

"Well? How's he holding up?"

"He could barely eat the food we got him; he can't stop talking about her and he practically cried himself to sleep."

Morgan creakily opens the door to see Reid, lying down with the brown covers over him. He sees a bunch of crumbled up tissues around the bed and on the sheets. Closing the door to let him rest for a while,

"Hotch, we have to bring Maddie," Morgan said, shaking his head. "I thought it was bad enough to see him like this when he lost Maeve, but if he loses Maddie…"

"We can't think like that," Hotch stopped him before he could finish the sentence. "When we find Müller and Meyer, I wouldn't stop you from giving them the worst beating of their lives."

"Not to mention, giving them the dozen special kicks in the nuts for Will."

* * *

Driving at least fifty miles an hour on a long road pathway as the sun was minutes away from setting, Müller had his blue eyes focused on the road as Maddie was quietly biting down on her nails. She began scratching the blond wig, which she was forced to wear as it began to itch her head too much and covered her medium brown hair. After the long moment of silence,

"You know, for a child your age, you seem awfully quiet."

She twirls a piece of the wig with her finger.

"I…don't want to be a bother."

There was a much bigger reason for that.

"You're not being a bother."

Crossing her arms as she leaned back in the seat and tried to stay calm as Müller pulled back onto the main road. Müller looked at Maddie's tiny legs and saw her squirming around uncomfortably in the backseat. He pulled the side of the road turned off the car. "Does the little girl need to go to the bathroom?"

Maddie nods her head slowly and tried her hardest not to make any kind of eye contact with Müller.

"Well…we could find a 7-Eleven soon before it gets completely dark and we could get a few things for the road. We could definitely do that. Now, let me explain the rules. As of now, you are to be an obedient little girl. When we get into town, you are not to attract anything kind of attention and you are also to do as I tell you to do. If these rules are not followed, you _will_ be punished severely…and I mean _very_ severely. Is it understood?"

Still avoiding eye contact with him, she simply nods her head.

"Good. Very good. You catch on pretty quick for a girl your age."

Maddie continued to lean back in the seat and tried to say calm as Müller pulled back onto the main. As Maddie looked out through the dark tinted windows, Maddie began to think,

"_Please find me. Please find me. Please._"

* * *

A surge of nausea washed over Reid as he soon began to try and wake up. His vision blurred and he honestly couldn't remember when he fell asleep. All he could remember was that…he soon realized that he possibly fell asleep when he cried himself to sleep…about Maddie. He soon begins to see Morgan sitting next to his bed on a chair.

"Hey, pretty boy."

Morgan couldn't believe how Reid looked. His eyes were muddy brown and red, his hair was messy, he looked more skinner than usual and practically looked as if hell broke loose on him a dozen times. "You already?"

He shrugs his shoulders and turns the other way as JJ stepped into the room.

"Hey, you. How are you holding up?"

"What do you think?" A wet sensation of tears begins to trail down his face. "I want my little girl back. I want to hold her in my arms; I want to be able to hold her and tell her everything will be already. I know I didn't help make her…but I still love her as if she was my own."

Prentiss walks into the room with a quart of dairy-free ice cream. Sitting beside Reid on the bed,

"Come on. You need your energy, so try and eat up a little bit."

"I'll try. When we find Müller and Meyer, unleash all your energy out on them."

"Oh, I will, Reid. I will."

* * *

Müller soon parks the car in a remote area outside of a local 7-Eleven store. A small moment of hesitation passed before making sure no one in the area could recognize him. He had a black wig over his blond hair and changed out of clothes he had earlier and into some fresh ones. Müller got out of the car and opened the backseat. Maddie yelped as Müller grabs her arm and yanked her from the backseat.

"Let's keep on moving, don't attract anything attention."

Nodding her head, "Yes, sir."

The youngish, lanky, average-height store clerk, who had short red hair, green eyes, allowed Maddie and Müller to come on in as they were going to be the last two customers before he had to close down. Kneeling down to look directly at Maddie,

"While I go and grab a few things, go do your business and come right back out right away. And remember…"

"No attracting any kind of attention."

"Good girl."

Little did he know that Maddie was trying to get the clerk's attention—even though he wasn't supposed to—by trying to calculate the right moment. The minute Müller looks away, she looks up at the security cameras, slightly exposes her medium brown hair under her blond wig and mouths,

'_Please, help me._'

As soon as Müller looked away, Maddie quickly grabs a couple of black marker from one of the jars and quickly rushes to the bathroom. She knew what she was about to do was risking, but she hoped it'll be worth it.

The clerk soon notices what Maddie was trying to say on the camera and calmly keeps his cool as Müller approaches up to him at the register with some rope, a few chocolate bars, some sandwiches and drinks. He kept his eyes steady at the security alarm button. As he was bagging his items,

"That'll be $15.27, sir."

Müller hands him a twenty and tells him to keep the change. As Müller began to stand around, waiting for Maddie,

"Uh…sir?"

Müller looks at him with slightly annoyance.

"What…can I help you it?"

Their attention later turns to the television when Channel 7 Eyewitness News comes on the screen when a special edition,

"_An AMBER alert is still on high alert for the kidnapping of a young girl by the name of Madison Jean Reid…_" It cut to a picture of a current Maddie.

"_…The daughter of a federal FBI agent who was kidnapped from the Lockwood School. Also on high alert is the escape of convicts, Jason Müller and Mason Meyer from the Harrington Penitentiary. Müller was convicted for the massacre of his family and Madison was the sole survivor of it and it is suspected that…_" It cuts to pictures of Müller and Meyer's mug shots and Maddie's biological family.

The clerk nervously points his finger at Müller, who responded by pointing a silver handgun at him, causing him to have his hands up. As Maddie walks out of the bathroom, who was scratching the itchy wig with her fingers,

"Hey!"

Maddie looks up at him,

"You're that little girl…"

Before Maddie could even respond, the sound of the gunshot filled the store. Pure horror and shock filled Maddie as she shrieked. The young clerk's body fell to the ground with a thud. Müller turned around to see Maddie in shock. Their attention turned to the television screen, which was earlier film of JJ addressing the media.

"_We are looking for this young girl. Her name is Madison Jean Reid,_" Holding up a recent picture of Maddie. "_Around the age of five-and-a-half, has dark brown eyes, long medium brown hair, around three feet and nine inches, weights forty pounds. Please, any information, regarding of this girl's whereabouts would be helpful_..."

Müller looked at Maddie as she looked right back at him with pure fear in her eyes. He knew he had to do something.

* * *

Reid shrieked his lungs out as he jolted up in his bed and tossed the covers to the side. The entire team rushed to his side when they heard his shrieks. He turned on the lamp quickly and shook away the dream—if not nightmare— he just had that hung over him. The small hours of sleep he had tried to get had been anything but peaceful nor relaxing.

He had dreamed about Maddie, but in his dream, he and the team had found Maddie and her biological father in a murder-suicide stage. Every member of his team comforted him as he wept his heart in his dream. They all knew that he wouldn't survive without Maddie.

"It's alright, Reid. It's going to be alright." Morgan comforted him as he cried his eyes, heart and soul out.

"We're going to find Maddie and we will bring her home."

The moment was temporarily stalled when Hotch's cellphone began to vibrate in his pants pocket. Hotch grabbed it and answered "This is Agent Hotchner."

"Agent Hotchner, this is Police Chief Thomas Long. We've found something. You and your team need to come straight away. We believe this may be connected to the kidnapping of one of your agent's children, Madison."

**Please review.**


	11. The Search for Maddie continues

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone.**

**Anyway, thank you very much for your reviews and thank you to those who read, followed, favorite story/author alert and visited my story. I really do appreciate it. I do look forward to hearing from all of you. By the way, I passed ALL my classes this spring semester.**

**Now for this chapter, I don't want to spoil too much, but let's just say you're going to see someone get **_**very**_** angry and Maddie still doesn't know that Müller is her birth father.**

**Please, do enjoy my story and please review****; constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**This chapter has been re-updated.**

**Chapter 11:**

_-_ _A person's a person, no matter how small. _

_\- Dr. Seuss_

Hotch and the rest of the team couldn't believe the sight in front of them. With Police Chief Thomas Long by their side, they made their way to a secluded area in the forest. They all stared at the body. "We believe he may be connected to Madison's kidnapping."

"He's dead?" Hotch said in disbelief as he, Rossi and Morgan stood by the corpse. Down on the cold and muddy ground was Mason Meyer. There were multiple gunshots wounds to the body, as well as defensive wounds. The legs and arms were halfway bent, the skin was a pale, sallow yellow, the hair looked like a raggedy wig and some parts of the body were swarmed with flies and maggots.

"Mason Meyer's dead." Rossi said in pure disbelief.

"Yep. We'll put a rush on the autopsy."

"By the looks of it, Müller shot him multiple times and left him there to rot…"

"…Which means Maddie is now alone with him." Morgan said with his arms crossed. "This is far from over, but after what Meyer did, no way in hell I'm shedding any tears."

JJ come before the guys as Hotch noticed her.

"Guys, there was a shooting at a local 7-Eleven. Locals say that they saw a person that fits Müller's description with a child with him. Look at the security cameras Garcia got."

Walking over by the jeep where Garcia was typing away as she brought up security footage. At the parking lot security footage, they see Müller yanking Maddie out of the backseat and walked into the 7-Eleven.

"Bastard forced her to wear a wig."

They later see Maddie looking up to the security cameras before grabbing some markers and going to the bathroom.

"She mouths to him to please help her."

Minutes later, there they all see Müller pulling out a gun on the young clerk. They all soon see Maddie walking out of the bathroom. As the video continued, they all see Müller holding up the young clerk before shooting him down, but gasped in horror at the sight of Maddie's shocked face.

"She watched him shot down that kid."

They all later see Maddie trying to run away from Müller as he began chasing her throughout the store as her wig fell off her head. As Maddie ran down the alleys, trying to dodge him, they all see her being pushed by Müller, causing her to fall on the floor as everyone else to gasp and their mouths to drop. Soon, Müller scoops up Maddie into his arms as he takes her into one of the bathroom and leaves the store after two-two-three minutes. Back to the parking lot security footage, they see Müller placing Maddie at the backseat before driving off in a different direction.

"Oh my…"

"Let's go before anything else happens."

Before they could even leave, Morgan had to do something, which was given Meyer's corpus a dozen special kicks in the nuts, courtesy for Will.

* * *

After getting armed up and ready, they all hopped in and pulled their black jeeps, which was leading half a dozen police cars with the BAU team, all of them dressed in their FBI protective vests. Morgan, Reid, JJ, Prentiss, Rossi and Hotch quickly walked up to the entrance of the 7-Eleven store with a few other police officers. Garcia stayed by, typing away on her computer, hoping to hack into the security cameras.

"FBI!"

"FBI!"

Looking around the convenience store, they all see the dead corpus of the young clerk. Thomas Long heavily sighed, shaking his head before walking away.

"That's Dustin McKnight. He just turned sixteen a few weeks ago." As the rest of the team looked around the store, Rossi and Hotch quickly crept into one of the bathrooms before their faces go into complete shock,

"Oh my…"

JJ and Emily noticed Rossi's facial expression and Hotch giving himself a face palm and quickly ran to their side before coming to complete shock themselves,

"Oh my god!"

"Oh…"

Morgan and Reid noticed JJ and Emily's shocked yet sad faces. Running to their sides,

"No, Reid…"

"Reid! Morgan! I'm telling you. You don't want to…"

Gently and easily pushing JJ and Emily past them to the side, the looks of realizations, devastation and speechlessness come across on their faces, especially Reid's. Chunks of long and chopped medium brown hair was found on the bathroom tiled floor. There was also a small puddle of blood in the hair.

"He cut off my little girl's hair and made her bleed."

Reid began to shake his head, slowly walking away, running his hands through his hair. Out of nowhere, he felt this…snap…inside of himself. All of a sudden, he simply grabs an umbrella near off before using it to knock off the inventory from their shelves,

"Why…you…you stupid…son of a…bitch! Just wait…until…I get…my hands…on you…for…hurting…my little…girl!"

"Reid! Reid!"

Morgan was forced to restraint Reid to stops himself before he could do any more damage than he's also causing. As soon as he angrily, but calmly throws the umbrella to the side, nearly hitting the women. He could feel the cracks in his voice and the tears slowly come down on his face.

"Reid, calm down. Calm down, man!"

"I…I want Maddie back..."

"We will get her back, man. We will."

Morgan calmly leads Reid out of the store and into the car with Garcia. Prentiss stood still as she was in complete shock.

"I'm not going to lie; I expected that from Morgan, but Reid?"

"That's his daughter, Prentiss," Hotch said, shaking his head. "Adopted or not, Maddie's his daughter. Maddie wrote a note on the bathroom stall." Leading the rest of the group back to the bathroom, where a group of officer are sweeping up Maddie's locked-off hair and bagging it,

"What did she wrote?"

Opening the stall, "_BAU team, if you are reading this, this is Maddie. Please come get me. I think he wants take me out of the state sooner or later. You have to find me quickly. I'm begging you. I saw him kill that man._"

"She saw Meyer get killed, too?" JJ said, shaking her head. "By the looks of her handwriting, she was nervous and shaking."

"Now, we really need to puzzle the pieces together if we're going to bring Maddie home. Let's start by going to that cabin where we find Meyer's body."

"In the meanwhile, I want road blocks set up in every state from here to everywhere. The only way he'll take Maddie out of state will be over our dead bodies."

* * *

Driving at least fifty miles an hour on a long road pathway as the sun was minutes away from setting, Müller had his eyes focused on the road as Maddie was lying in the backseat, apparently unconscious with a large grey blanket covering her up as well as her head with a black beanie. He didn't want or meant to lock off her beautiful long hair, but in his mind, he knew that he just had to.

* * *

Going back to the area where they found Meyer's body, they see a small cabin, sitting back on a large property was set back from the road, so the driveway was a mile and surrounded by tall, thick pines. There was only a small log and stone cabin, which was being surrounded by large acres of land and taller and thicker pines.

The BAU team, all of them dressed in their FBI protective vests, quickly walked up to the rustic mahogany front door with a few other police officers. Morgan kicked down the door and rush right in. After finding almost nothing, they rush into one of the bedroom and JJ notices a note on the nightstand by the bed,

"Hey, guys!"

"What?"

"Look."

Reading the note, "Maddie was here." She also notices a white headband lying around. "This is Maddie's headband. Garcia gave this to her."

"Let's hope we're getting closer."

* * *

** Some hours later…**

Maddie groaned as she was trying to be aware of her surroundings and sluggishly opened her eyes, struggling to regain her consciousness. Her vision blurred as she finally opened her eyes, due to the bright light. She found herself in the middle of a room, sitting down on a wooden chair while being strapped with a leather belt. Her wrists were restrained by black cable ties in front of her body.

She turns her head, only to find herself looking at the floor-length mirror in the room. She felt the tears about to come down on her face when she saw her long hair was now a short pixie haircut and had a medium-sized bandage on the base of her forehead. Her heart jumped when she heard the front door open.

"Oh, good," Müller said as he walked up to her, stroking her pixie haircut and bandage on her forehead before walking away. "You're awake. You almost scared me for a second."

"What's going on? You…you cut off…why would you…?"

"I warned you not to attract any attention. Did I not warn you?"

"What…? But I didn't mean to…"

"_Don't_…" He stormed up to her with the freighting look in his eyes, pulling on her hair tightly as he was seething. "…talk…back…to me. _Never_…talk…back…to me. When you're in my house, you don't talk back. Understood?"

"U-understood, sir. I'm s-s-sorry. I'm s-sorry, sir."

"Good girl." Releasing his grip, she stilled under his cold touch. "If you're good enough, I'll soon remove those nasty restraints." Walking away to light up the giant fireplace, Maddie mutters under her breath,

"Please find me. I know you can find me. Please…"

* * *

Garcia was typing away on her laptop to no end. She, as well as the rest of the team was as determined to bring Maddie home safe and sound. Emily walked into the room where most of the team was at and bring them coffee and anything to keep them awake.

"Thanks, Prentiss," Hotch said, taking one of the coffee mugs.

"No problem," Prentiss said as she sat down on the brown couch. "I figure we're going to need all the energy and strength we need to find the bastard of a father."

"I hope we find Maddie soon," JJ said, walking into the room. "Henry and Will called again."

"What'd they say?"

"After telling them what happened to Maddie, Will said when you find Müller, give him two dozen special kicks in the nuts for him. Henry and Michael both said to give him a dozen for him, too."

"Your sons are just like their father."

* * *

Garcia, with Morgan and Reid looking over her shoulders, was typing away as she gulped down her umpteenth cup of coffee when her computer screen goes completely black.

"What…? What happened?"

"I…I don't…"

All of a sudden, she, Morgan and Reid come across at one of the darkest yet gruesome scenes they've ever encountered yet. Reid gasped in shocking horror, who had Morgan keeping him steady, at the sight of Maddie, who was restricted to the wooden chair with her biological father, Jason Müller, with her.

"Oh my…"

"Guys! Get in here! Quick!"

Rushing over, they all gasped in horror. Reid had JJ and Prentiss keeping him steady as they felt him about to collapse on the ground. "Oh god!"

"That monster really did cut her hair off and I still can't get a pinpoint location on him. He must be using Meyer's computer to do it."

All they could do now is watch and see what Müller was going to do with Maddie.

"_Hello, BAU. Jason Müller again. Here I am, with this beautiful, precious little girl. Don't you just love her new haircut?_"

"Oh, Maddie!" Garcia cried out, biting down on her nails. "Oh, poor baby! You monster! You…disgusting…evil monster!"

All of a sudden, Müller stands behind Maddie, who began to have tears streaming down her face. The team could see her still from his touch.

"_Please…please stop._" Maddie muttered under her breath.

"_Excuse me?_"

"_Please stop._"

"_Quiet…quiet, you…_"

Finally speaking up, "_I said to please stop!_"

With her speaking up causes him to slap Maddie upside the head, causing the team to gasp in horror and for Maddie to shriek. "_Ahhh!_"

"I'm going to put this guy's head on a stick and hang it on my wall." Morgan said, seething with anger.

"_Please…please, sir. I didn't…I didn't mean to…Ahhh!_"

A sharp slap came to her face. Maddie's lips quivered as her face soon trailed down with tears. "_Don't talk back to me or even speak unless spoken to!_"

"_Please…sir…I didn't mean to…Ahhh!_"

"_I said to __**never**__ talk back to me, girl!_" He delivers another sharp slap. "_Or to speak…unless spoken to!_" He gives Maddie a backhand slap to her face, resulting in a slight bruise on her lip.

They all hold on Reid and each other as they witnessed Maddie being slapped around. Morgan hugged Garcia, so she couldn't watch the screen. Reid looked both scared and enraged, seeing Maddie go through so much. As Müller paces his breath, "_Now apologize to me._"

Maddie had her head down to the ground, in complete silence. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to say. She opened her mouth to speak, but only a few unintelligible syllables came out. Before any other thought came to her,

"_Did you not hear me? I…said…,_" Müller forced her head up, giving her the sight of fear in his eyes. "_Apologize…to…me now!_"

**Please review.**


	12. Still continuing

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone.**

**Now for this chapter, I don't want to spoil too much, but let's just say you're going to see some heartwarming moments with the team, including a flashback involving Reid and Maddie.**

**Anyway, thank you very much for your reviews and thank you to those who read, followed, favorite story/author alert and visited my story. I really do appreciate it. I do look forward to hearing from all of you.**

**This chapter has been re-updated.**

**Please, do enjoy my story and please review****; constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**Chapter 12:**

_-_ _It's a sad moment, really, when parents first become a bit frightened of their children._

_\- Ama Ata Aidoo_

They all were still holding on to Reid and each other as they witnessed Maddie being slapped around. Morgan hugged Garcia tightly, so she couldn't watch the screen. Reid looked both scared and enraged, seeing Maddie go through so much.

"_I'm going to tell you one last time, girl. I…said…,_" Müller forced her head up before raising his hand. "_Apologize…to…me!_"

"No!" JJ covers her mouth.

"Oh god!" Prentiss covers her eyes.

"Maddie!" Reid begins to tear up.

"_I'm sorry._"

At a slow pace, Maddie opens her eyes to see Müller slowly turning the palm of his hand into a fist, Müller stops himself halfway from hurting her anymore. Collecting himself as he takes a deep breath,

"_Say that again._"

"_I'm sorry…sir._" Maddie meekly said with her head up. "_I'm sorry, sir._"

"_What are you sorry for?_"

Feeling the cracks in her voice, trying to get the words out. "_I'm sorry… for…attracting…any kind of a-a-attention…I've g-given you…and for talking back to you…in your house. It's your house…and I will not talk back to you…in your house. Your house…your rules. Your house, your rules._"

Calming himself down, he gives himself a deep sigh. Stroking her cheek before kissing her forehead, stilling from his cold lips. Turning back to the camera,

"_Now that's a good girl. Did you see that, BAU team? That's how you deal with a child. Like I said before, you will never find us. Never. Ta-ta._"

* * *

The video cuts out as the screen go back. After comforting Garcia, who had tears falling down heavy, sobbing, Morgan storms out of the room, slaps the door, making a loud sound while letting out a booming growl. While Rossi runs out to try and calm down Morgan, JJ and Prentiss took Reid out of the room for a while, beginning to hyperventilate after seeing Maddie like that.

Hotch comforts Garcia, who was still crying after seeing Maddie suffering at the hands of her biological father. "It's alright. It's okay. Let it all out."

"I just don't understand, Hotch," Garcia sighed shakily, watching her tears drop on Hotch. "Hasn't she been through enough? We all, especially me, just want her to have a normal childhood and life. She's a good girl; she doesn't need this happening to her. She shouldn't be happening to her. I…"

"I know, Garcia. Maddie gets her intelligence and strength from her late family, us and Reid, especially. We'll find Maddie and when we do, I promise you this; you can spoil her silly as much as you want." Hotch smiles at her.

After seeing his little Maddie get smacked around by Müller, Reid could barely stop himself from shaking like a little Chihuahua. He hated seeing her upset or crying. Reid could remember this one time as if it was yesterday…

* * *

_**Over four years ago…**_

_ It was a quarter to noon in the afternoon and the January snow was coming down lightly. Reid was carrying an eleven-month-old Maddie in a semi-colorful building. Reid thought Maddie looked absolutely adorable in the outfit Garcia and JJ got for her. It was a pink cashmere and pants set over a diamond-quilted coat with a cashmere hat and booties set. Walking through the glass double doors, he is greeted by the receptionist, dressed in a polo shirt and khakis,_

_ "Hello," Looking up on her computer, "Madison Jean?"_

_ "Right here, ma'am." Reid said as Maddie was moving around in his arms._

_ "Wonderful. Follow me, please."_

_ Following the receptionist, "Is this your daughter?"_

_ "Yes, ma'am."_

_ "Oh, she's so cute. She has your eyes; you know that?"_

_ "Yeah." He agreed as he fixes up her hat._

_ He and Maddie are leaded into a colorful room, filled with wall-to-wall toys, games puzzle-styled carpeting, cribs. It was practically a baby's and child's version of heaven. He is later greeted by two other day care workers, also dressed in polo shirts and khakis._

_ "Hello, sir," One of the workers said. "Is this Madison Jean?"_

_ "It's Maddie, actually. Here you go, little Maddie." Gently setting Maddie down before knelling down and giving her a loving hug, "There's somewhere I have to be, but I promise you; I'll be back at around six to get you, okay? Have fun and be a good girl, too." Kissing the top of her head before pinching her cheeks, "Daddy loves you."_

_ Reid only took turned around and took a step before Maddie started crying, tearfully waving goodbye at him. In her mind, she was probably telling him not to go. He could felt a tear coming down as he backed out of the room as he waved Maddie goodbye back._

_ Slowly walking out of the room, through the glass window, he could still hear and see Maddie continuing to cry while some of the staff members rushed to calm her down. Waving at Maddie through the window, "Bye, Maddie. I love you."_

_**Flashback end…**_

* * *

He looked through the pictures he had of Maddie; all of them were of her smiling and laughing. Flipping to the side with her biological family, he could feel the tears dropping down from his face to the pictures. He missed seeing her when she came home from school after work, the nights he would spend with her and read together. He even looked through Maddie's bag, which was filled with her school work, books from H.G. Wells to Charles Dickens and the picture she drew at the time of her abduction. JJ and Emily rushed to try and comfort him,

"Reid, buddy…"

"That stupid…_bastard_…slapped her little face and head." Shaking his head, pulling on his hair. "She's just a little girl. Just the sound of listening to her scream and shriek. Oh, if only I'd let her gone to London with you…" Reid began to completely break down in tears again, struggling to calm down.

"Reid, are you actually blaming yourself for what's happening to Maddie?"

"This never would have happened if I'd let her gone to London with you; it's obvious. It was so damn obvious and I _missed it, damn it_! I mean…I put her in danger when I'm supposed to _protect her_! It's all my fault. It's all my damn fault…"

Prentiss wraps her arms around Reid. "Reid. Reid, dear. Listen to me, Reid. What's happening to Maddie is not your fault. It's not and it never will be your fault. The only person who's at fault is her birth father, who doesn't deserve to be her birth father or any kind of father at all."

"Look, in my mind, that's the truth, but…in my heart…I don't know. I just…I feel as if I failed. I failed her. I even failed her whole family. She deserves better. She deserves more than I could give her. I don't deserve her."

JJ places her hand on his shoulder. "Dr. Spencer Reid…you take her in, gave her everything: a home and a life. I mean…not a lot of people would have done that. Out of all the people in the world, she chose you. When we all tried to calm her down, you were the only one that could. You didn't fail her or her family at all. Maddie's just as smart and just as strong as you, her late mother, three older siblings and the rest of her family. You were the best thing that has happened to her when she lost her family to him." Prentiss and JJ wrapped their arms around Reid, comforting him as he began to let it all out. "You _do_ deserve her. She's lucky to have you as her father."

* * *

Morgan was in one of the rooms, taking his frustrations out of a pillow. He needed to clear his head. He needed to get his hands on Müller. All that rage from watching Maddie get smacked and hit by him and the thought of her being alone with him made him want to explode all of hell out; explode so badly, all the bats fly out of hell pissing on themselves. He figured he needed to hit something. He kept on pounding and pounding on it before taking a small break. He turns around and he sees Rossi standing the door with his hands in his pockets. This wasn't the first time he seen Morgan like this.

"Can I help you with something?"

"I can see you're taking this well."

"If it was anyone in your family, what would you do?"

Shrugging his shoulders, "I'm not to lie; I'd kill them…but I would also try and talk about my problems…"

"I don't know about you, Rossi, but I usual don't like talking about my problems."

"Look, Morgan. I understand why you're so protective of Maddie…."

All of a sudden, every ounce of Morgan's energy just enraged as he threw the pillow aside, "You know what? You're right; you're absolutely right. I _am_ protective of Maddie. Of course I am! It was bad enough that bastard birth father of hers took her entire family from her when she was not even a year old, but now that she was forced to watch that kid and Meyer died right in front of her and her father smacking her around like that! Don't you think that's going to have some kind of effect on her for someone her age or when she gets older?! Huh?! I want him to pay _very…badly_, both physically and mentally!"

Rossi kept his composure and calm as he has his hands in his pockets and had seen Morgan shout at him like that before. "I just think this goes deeper than that. Don't you?" He soon walks out of the room.

Morgan takes a deep sigh as he tossed the pillow to the side and slowly thinks about what Rossi had said to him. He reaches into his pants pocket and finds a gold cross attached to a chain.

He was right. It _did_ go deeper than that. And it wasn't just with what he had dealt with as a child.

**Please review.**


	13. The Truth Coming Out

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone.**

**Now for this chapter, I don't want to spoil too much, but get ready for some badass moments coming, especially in the future remaining chapters. Sorry to leave you with a cliffhanger.**

**Anyway, thank you very much for your reviews! I really do appreciate it. I do look forward to hearing from all of you.**

**This chapter has been re-updated.**

**Please, do enjoy my story and please review****; constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**Chapter 13:**

_-_ _It is a wise father that knows his own child._

_\- William Shakespeare_

Maddie moaned as her small body remained strapped to the wooden chair along with her wrists. Müller wipes the blood from her side lip and the slap burns with the soaked white cloth. She could still feel the stings from the slaps given to her. "I'm sorry for hurting you like that. I didn't mean to hurt you like that. Are you already though?"

"I'm okay..." Maddie meekly said. In her mind, she said 'eventually.' As Müller holds a tasty sandwich up to Maddie's face, she takes a couple bites as he wipes her face down with the cloth. "Thank you."

"Anything else? Maybe something to drink?"

With her head down, looking down at the glossy, finishing dark wood floors, she simply nods her head. He lets her drink through from the blue straw out of the bottled Evian water. After she was done,

"Anything else? You need to go to the bathroom?"

Shaking her head,

"Not at the moment, but thank you."

"Now, I have to go and get a couple of things out of town and because I trust you, I'm leaving you here by yourself," Going over to the white security keypad, pushing on a few random buttons before going back to Maddie's side. "Remember what I said: if you're good enough, if you do as I say, don't give me any problems, I'll not only take those nasty restraints off you, but I'll even give you some ice cream."

He begins to mess up Maddie's hair before grabbing the back of her head, causing Maddie to yelp of pain, keeping her eyes shut and trying not to break down and cry.

"But if you don't do as I say…just like before, I will punish you severely," Turning her head towards his, giving her fear and imitation with a hint of madness. "_Very_…_severely._ This is understood?"

Nodded her head up and down, in a timid voice. "Yes, sir."

"Good girl. Would you like anything while I'm out?"

"No, thank you."

As he was donning on a new disguise, "I'll be back in a few hours."

After he pets her head, she held her breath at the touch of his cold wet lips touching her forehead and his fingers on her face. She has always wondered why he was touching and kissing her face like that. She didn't know why, but she felt that he had some kind of connection to him. She didn't know what connection it was, but she felt that it was something.

* * *

Garcia shook her head as she felt purely disgusted when she saw the picture of the beast that is Jason Müller. Just looking at the old crime scene photos of the bloody murders Müller did to Maddie's entire family almost made her regurgitate her coffee and food. Even she was typing away and with Müller's partner, Mason Meyer, dead and gone, she still couldn't get a pinpoint location and was probably blocking her from it. She looked almost everywhere from Müller prison records to the possible connected people Müller had.

"Hey, Garcia," Reid said as he walked into the room, rubbing his fingers on his temples.

"How was the nap?"

"It didn't do much help, but thanks for asking," Reid answered. "Hey, where's everyone else?"

"They went to get some food and to do some canvasing around. They'll be back in an hour or two. I made you some coffee in the meanwhile."

"Oh, okay and thanks. You get anything yet?"

"Nothing." Slamming the table in pure frustration. "Zero. Nada. Zip. He seemed to have lost all his connections when he went to prison. All either died or went off the grid completely. He pretty much kept to himself during his five years in prison." Covering her face as she was on the verge of tearing up. "Oh! I'm the most useless person in the entire world."

"Don't say that, Garcia," Reid said. "You are not useless; not one bit. The only person who is useless is that big box of nothing, Müller."

"I know, but I just can't seem to think of a place where he would keep Maddie. I mean…"

"Wait," Reid said, snapping his fingers. "Garcia, I need you to do something for me."

"Okay, what is it?"

"I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but…I need you to go back to the video of Maddie and Müller."

Garcia, looked at Reid as if he had lost his mind. She looked at him, thinking if he really needed to see Maddie get smacked around again. "Reid, do you seriously want to…?"

"Look, I know you all must think I'm a complete nut right now…"

"Reid…"

"Please, just…please. I don't know why, but…I just have this feeling in my gut, believing that Maddie was trying to tell us something. Please…"

"Okay."

Loading up the video, "Play the part where Maddie apologizes." Reid said, biting down on his lip and nails.

Looking back at the video where Maddie apologizes to Müller,

"_…It's your house…and I will not talk back to you…in your house. Your house…your rules. Your house, your rules._"

"She looks slightly at the camera when she said, _'Your house, your rules,'_" Reid said, looking at the video. "She said this four times. No surprise; Müller was an abusive control freak. Garcia, look up any properties in either Jason Müller or Caroline Harris' names."

Fiercely typing away, she was able to get documented papers from mortgages payments to bills, old mail,

"Well, let's see. Shortly after their wedding, Jason and Caroline bought a place together for over twenty million dollars and lived there for ten years with their children, including a newborn Maddie at the time. The place was pretty much left abandoned after Caroline took the children and was murdered by Müller before he went to prison, but it was listed as property in both of their wills."

"His house, his rules." Reid figured. "That's it! He took her back to the house where it all began! You got an address?"

"Yes-siree. It's right here."

"Garcia, you're amazing." Reid said, running out of the room.

"Thank you, Dr. Genius. It's one of the many words describing me."

As Reid finished strapping his vest on, he goes into one of the room and grabs his gun from the bedside and checked to see it was loaded. He digs into his pants pocket and pulls out a photo of him and Maddie together and kisses it. As he's about to walk out the door,

"Wha…" Garcia couldn't believe Reid was already geared up. "Reid, you can't do this, at least not by yourself. You need backup."

"Look, I know you think must I'm crazy and I completely understand...but right now, I don't give a damn if I am or not."

"Reid…"

"I…do…not…care, Garcia. That son of a bitch has Maddie. I promised myself I will keep her safe and you better be damned I'm going to keep that promise if it's the last thing I ever do. If the others ask…I'm getting my little girl back."

"Reid…" Garcia got up from her seat and walks up to Reid, giving him a tight, but heartwarming hug, looking teary-eyed. "Please…be careful."

"I will, Garcia."

* * *

Maddie continued to struggle against the zip-ties and the belt tied to her. Her skin around her tiny wrists and shoulders began to hurt. The curtains were closed, blocking any kind of light and felt time slowly passing by. Despite struggling to stop panicking and pacing heavily, she couldn't help but yell out in frustration. She wanted to call out for help, but by the looks of where she was, there was no chance of call out. She not only wanted to get out of the restraints, but she needed to use the bathroom. Taking a deep sigh, lying her head back, she could a sense of all of hope being lost at this point, like she didn't know what else to do. All of a sudden,

"_I can do anything._"

Maddie began to hear this voice in her head, telling her," _I can do anything._"

She starts thinking of the scenes from _Madeline_ she watched with Reid a few nights ago. She starts to tell herself, trying to gain the self-empowerment she desperately needed, "I can do anything. I can do anything. I can do _anything_." Grinning to herself with glee,

"Okay. I can do this."

Closing her eyes, taking another deep breath,

"Here I go." She figured if she tightened the zip-ties with her teeth, it'll be easier to break. She soon positions the tie lock in the center between her wrists and continued to take more deep breaths. Feeling like she was ready, she raised her arms and hits against her tiny stomach a couple of times before breaking the tie on impact.

She gasped in pure disbelief as she couldn't believe it actually worked. After that, she tries to slither her way out of the leather belt tied around the body from the chair. Trying to pull her tiny body down, she could feel her being looser, eventually freeing her from the restraints.

"Yes! Yeah!" Maddie cheers to herself.

Now all she had to think of a way to call out for help. She didn't need to use the bathroom anymore; the feeling went away.

Wondering around the grand living room, walking up to the silk curtains, shaking them, she had this sense that nobody has lived here in a long time, due to the amount of dust, especially on the lamps, vases, paintings, the rest of the furniture and other expensive-looking things in the room.

Exploring around the rest of the first floor, all she found was the foyer, a grand dining room, an all-white gourmet kitchen, a few bedrooms and bathrooms and a bunch of other rooms. She realized that this place was a typical kidnapper's hideout. She didn't know why, but…she senses a connection to this place. So many thoughts were running through her head. _What is this place? Where was she? Is it possible for anyone to find this place?_

Before anymore thoughts could go through her mind, she could hear something from outside. Worried about getting caught, she quickly flees upstairs and hides out in one of the rooms.

* * *

After shutting the door, she leans her body against the door. As she starts to take heavy deep breaths, feeling the adrenaline going up and up, she tries to relax herself when she finds herself in a large room with rich-colored painted walls and carpeting. The room had a huge fireplace, antique furniture, an impressive art collection, a flat-screen television with theater equipment and bookshelves.

She turns on the television after turning on the DVD player. As she's waiting, she wonders over to the shelves, looking at some of the keepsakes. She sees portraits and pictures with the people's faces torn and slashed. Trying to understand why, the DVD player finally loads up, taking a seat on the couch, everything is coming together for Maddie. Maddie sees three children, playing around in a large luscious field. Maddie sworn she's seen them before.

"If this is your home…these are the memories you treasured here."

All of a sudden, a woman, who also looked familiar to Maddie, shows up on the screen.

"_Mama!_"

"_Oh!_" She gives them all a big hug before radiantly smiling at the camera. "_My darling children! Oh! Are you all having fun?_"

"_Yeah!_" They all same simultaneously.

"_Kids! Caroline!_" A man's voice appeared on the screen. "_Come inside!_"

Maddie's mouth dropped to the ground when she saw the man who appeared on the screen, giving the woman a kiss on the cheek before turning to the camera, waving. She couldn't believe it. "Wha…? Wha…? No…no! He…he…he's…"

Maddie now remembers it all. It all started to make sense. The wild, curly black-brown hair. Those piercing eyes. Those three children with her. The dreams, pictures and visions she'd been having lately. Why she was kidnapped in the first place.

"You know…"

Maddie leaped out from her sit while her eyes popping out, taking a gasp. She realized that icy voice. She felt every part of her body had frozen in place and was breathless.

"For a girl your age, you're quite smart, don't you think?"

For some strange reason, she could only turn around slowly, she focuses her eyes on the small gun he had in his hand. Drawing in a breath as she looks at him, seeing the cold in his blue eyes without the slightest bit of joy. His disguise was off with his raggedly blond hair, cords and veins sticking out from his neck. There was just something off about him while looking sickly thin and pale.

"Well, now you seem to know the truth about everything…Maddie."

**Please review.**


	14. Calm Before the Storm

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone.**

**Now for this chapter…Maddie now knows the truth about Müller. Sorry to leave you with a cliffhanger again, but there will be an epic scene in the next chapter.**

**Anyway, thank you very much for your reviews. I really do appreciate it. I do look forward to hearing from all of you.**

**This chapter has been re-updated.**

**Please, do enjoy my story and please review; constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**Chapter 14:**

_-_ _My mother protected me from the world and my father threatened me with it._

_\- Quentin Crisp_

Maddie whimpers as she has taken a seat on the dusty, plush couch as a video is being loaded up on the flat-screen. She could feel time passing by slowly, waiting for someone to rescue her from this nightmare. She felt as if she wet herself, but she didn't care; not even if she left a urine stain on the couch.

The video is finally done loading and the same woman from the earlier video Maddie saw in the other room appears on the screen.

"_Michael, Parker, Peyton, Madison. If you are watching this, I just want you to know that I didn't want to have to do this…but with all of our lives on the line…we have to be separated from each other._"

As the video was playing, Maddie could hear a continuing banging behind her against the table. She tries to ignore this with the sound of hearing the voice coming from the screen.

"_Please…understand. The only reason I'm doing this…is to protect you from your father. I love your father and I know you do, too…but now…he's turned into this…vindictive…person and has been…threatening everyone in the family; from your grandparents, to your aunts and uncles, cousins, including me and you four. The threats soon began after we left him, but they became worse after Madison was born._" Caroline could feel the cracks in her voice, trying not to cry. "_My biggest fear…was that he would hurt any of you…and I couldn't live with myself if anything were to happen to either one of you. You will all be sent into protective custody with the rest of the family. My children, I promise you; either when he gets caught or leaves us alone completely, we will come together as a family again._"

Maddie could feel the tears streaming down her face. "_Before I go, there are a few things I have to say._" Caroline tries to collect herself, sniffing, "_I love you all. I love you more than anything in and outside this world and solar system. From the bottom of my heart, to death, even more than air."_ Caroline took a long pregnant pause before talking again, allow the tears to flow. "_Michael and Parker Joseph, Peyton and Madison Jean…if anything were to happen to me…I want you to know that you'll always have a guardian angel looking after you in the sky. Wherever you are…I'll be there…watching you. My wish is that you'll be protected and safe with someone who'll treat you as their own child. I just wanted to know how I feel this way, how I'll think about you every day. That's all I wanted to say. I love you. Forever."_ The video stops at a tearful but smiling Caroline blowing a kiss.

Maddie broke down in tears, shaking with her arms folded. Müller just stood behind the couch and table with a calm, but eerily voice,

"Oh, even when she's crying, her smile's just as bright as the stars at night."

"Why…why do you have this video?"

"Come on, Madison. Think. Even for a smart girl like yourself, you think you should know why."

Standing in front of the television screen with the small gun in his hand. Maddie's mind screeched to a halt as she looks back at the conversation she had with Reid a few days ago when he told her about her birth family. _Threatened by a…very bad person. You survived that person. He's…just not around._

Maddie couldn't believe it. She went over and again everything thrown at her and connected them. The person who kidnapped her, the person she's with right now…is her biological father.

"You…you…you hurt the rest of my family."

Müller looked as Maddie with pure confusion, but all of a sudden, he lets out a Grinch-out smile. "You don't understand…I loved them all." He soon starts to laugh, but also cried at the same time.

Maddie with her mouth half-open, but no words would come out. She had this sick feeling in her stomach, her eyes were pouring out tears, just looked at him pure disgust and shock at the same time.

"Don't look at me like that."

Maddie continued to look at him like the vile creature he is.

"Don't look at daddy like that."

Maddie couldn't stop herself from wanting to speak, "Oh, you…"

"I _said_…!" Müller calmly seethes as he pulls the gun to Maddie's head, causing her to gasp in horror, grabbing on her hair tightly. "_Don't_…look at me…like that! _Never_…_look_…at daddy like that!"

* * *

As the rest of the BAU team walks out of one of the local shops around town, walking back to the SUV with JJ and Morgan, Rossi and Hotch catch up to them.

"Anything?"

"Nope. It was a total bust. My guess, it was the same for you and Hotch."

"Let me call Garcia; hopefully she and Reid got something." Morgan pulls his cell phone out.

Rossi sighed and shook his head in pure aggravation, annoyance and irritation. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm _really _beginning to lose my patience with this jag-off. I just want to give him both a good piece of my mind _and_ a good-old-fashion beating, Italian-styled."

As Morgan places the phone on speaker and waits for an answer,

"My liege."

"Baby girl, you and Reid get anything?"

"Uh…well…you see, about that…"

"Speaking of Reid, how's he holding up?" Prentiss asked over the phone.

"Well…uh…Reid…he's…"

"Garcia," Morgan said, raising his eyebrow in suspense, along with the rest of the team. "How's Reid?"

"Well…he's…actually…not...here with me."

"What?"

"What? What happened?" JJ asked, causing Morgan to signal her to wait a second.

"Garcia, don't lie to me, baby girl. Where's Reid?"

"He…he figured out where Maddie and Müller were, so he…went there to find them."

"By himself?" Morgan said with panic in his voice.

"We'll deal with that later," Hotch said, rushing into the SVU. "Garcia, you have the address of where he's heading?"

"I'm sending you the address right now, but if I were you guys, I would call in a lot of back-up; it's about fifteen-to-twenty-five acres of land. Please be careful, my beloveds."

"Alright, let's move out, people!"

* * *

Müller kneels down in from of Maddie, tucking a piece of her hair away from her face as she kept still when he places his hand on her cheek.

"You remind me so much of your mother. You have her face-shape, her eyes, her spirit and intelligence. Did you know she was a bright lady?"

Maddie lets a tear from her eye before Müller wipes it off for her. "Why? Just…why? Why…would you do something like that? To your own family? My family?"

Müller couldn't help but to give Maddie a fearful look before he tries to soften his face, feeling her face with his finger. "I didn't want to…but I never meant to. I never did wanted to hurt them. I just…I…I…I don't know what to tell you."

Maddie tries to look away from her, but Müller gently turns Maddie's head to him. "Please, Maddie. Don't think of me like that. We can have a whole new life together. Just think about it. You can have a whole new family. New relatives, new siblings, even a new mother. What do you say?"

Maddie took a big gulp, stilling in place. "Do you want to know what I have to say?"

"Of course." Müller's face lifted up.

Maddie couldn't help but to spit out and say,

"You…are no father of mine."

Müller's face soon turned into ashes. "Maddie…"

"You are…a…pathetic, lonely, sad and empty excuse for a human-being…"

"Maddie, please…."

"You just can't replace the family you took with false replacements…"

"Madison…!"

She snaps out the final words. "And you die, you are going _straight_ to the other side…and by 'the other side,' it's not heaven I'm talking about! It's _that_ place!"

Clenching his jaw muscles, overcoming with rage, Müller gives Maddie a sharp slap to her face, causing her to fall from the couch and to the floor. Maddie clutches on to her cheek; feeling a cut on the side as the tears ran down to her quivering lips. "Ahh!"

* * *

Driving at least fifty-to-sixty miles an hour on a long road pathway as the sun was minutes away from setting, Reid kept his eyes focused on the road when he hears keeps hearing his phone vibrating next to him. He picks up to see the caller and it was Hotch calling him. He throws the phone on the passenger's seat and continues to keep his focus.

Hotch, in the car with Rossi, as he's driving, takes a deep sigh as Reid's phone keeps going straight to voicemail.

"Dammit, Reid! Pick up the damn phone!"

* * *

Müller's strong hand gripped onto Maddie's hand and drags her into the kitchen.

"Ahh!" Maddie pleads as she's thrown against a corner. Shaking as she's trying to get up on her feet. "Please, stop!"

"What have we say about talking to me like that? Huh?! _Never_…talk to daddy like that. _Never_!" He heatedly yells in Maddie's face, cowering down in fear.

* * *

Reid parks the car by the side of the road behind one of the large trees that was blocking the large red-brick estate. He kept hearing his phone vibrating from the seat. Finally wanting the vibrating to stop, he picks up his phone and impatiently answers,

"What?"

"Reid, it's Hotch. _Now_ you pick up your phone?"

"Yeah-yeah-yeah. What do you want _now_?"

"What in the hell are you doing?"

"That's not important right now."

"You know very damn well it is important right now. You have called us for backup, Reid; we're on our way."

"Hotch, Maddie is my daughter, which makes this my responsibility."

"Reid…"

"Don't stop me, Hotch. Just don't, okay?" Before Hotch could say another word, Reid hangs up his phone.

* * *

Hotch, with Rossi in the car with him as he's driving.

"He hung up."

"He took your call; that was good."

"We got to go faster, Rossi!"

* * *

Maddie cowered at the corner, shaking and nervously biting on her nails, her lips quivering, she could feel her heart beating at an adrenaline rush. Müller rushes his hand through his limp hair, pacing back and forth across the kitchen. All of a sudden, Müller calms himself down and walks himself over to Maddie. She fearfully holds her breath as Müller has her hands on her face,

"Hey-hey-hey, Maddie. Maddie…sweetie. Come on, now. Look at daddy…"

"No…"

"Look at daddy, Maddie…please…"

"No…!"

Forcibly grabbing the back of Maddie's neck and hair. "Look at daddy, Maddie!"

* * *

Reid holstered his gun and walked halfway around the perimeter of the house. Hiding in the shrubs and bushes, he tries to get a peek through the windows, but couldn't, due to the curtains blocking his view. He keeps on going around the house until he can find another way to get inside.

* * *

Müller looks at Maddie with the wrathful, frightening look in his eyes as she starts to wheeze heavily, shivering as if she had a cold. "Come on, Maddie. Look at daddy, baby. Please, look at daddy. Please…"

"No!" Maddie screams at him. "You are no father of mine!"

Fuming with rage, his nostrils flaring, his eyes jolting, Müller strongly grabs Maddie by the wrist. "Come here!"

* * *

Reid could hear the sound of Maddie's cry from where he was standing. He rushes to the door connected to the house in the garage, where he sees a black car sitting there. He could tell it was recently used from the position it was in. Pulling his gun out of the holster, he carefully aims to the door, waiting for the right moment.

* * *

Maddie's head hit against the white tile floor as she was thrown down.

"Oh, Maddie. Maddie, Maddie, Maddie."

* * *

Reid could feel the adrenaline kick into overdrive. In his mind, his thoughts going in every direction. _Wait. No, do it! Wait for it. Do it. Just wait for it! Do it now!_

* * *

Fear struck to the cord in Maddie just seeing Müller in the terrifying and demented state he was in. As she was yanked from the floor with Müller grabbing her elbow, her eye soon catches on a sharp silver utensil on the flawless granite countertop. Trying to wait for the right time to come,

"You just won't learn, will you?" Müller snarled before rising his fist in the air before stopping halfway when he starts to hear a small noise. "What the…?"

Before he could react, Maddie bites down on Müller's arm skin as she kicks in his leg, pulling herself away from him after she grabs the sharp utensil.

"Ahh!" Müller grabs a hold on to his leg before looks down at Maddie's bite mark and staring hard at Maddie. Before he could charge her, she throws the utensil at him, leaving a slight cut on his arm, before running as fast as she could. "Ahh!"

* * *

"_Now!_" The final thought in Reid's mind said.

_BANG! BANG!_

Knocking the door down, the same way he sees would Morgan do,

Pulling out his gun, "Why, you…!"

"Hold it right there, Müller." Reid points his gun at Müller.

Müller gives himself a lopsided smirk, points his gun at Reid and chuckles,

"Of course. It's a pleasure to meet you...Dr. Spencer Reid."

**Please review.**


	15. Between Fathers

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone.**

**Now for this chapter…THE…**_**EPIC**_**…showdown between Müller and Reid. Sorry this chapter took longer than usual; I wanted it to be just right.**

**Anyway, thank you very much for your reviews. I really do appreciate it. I do look forward to hearing from all of you.**

**This chapter has been re-updated.**

**Please, do enjoy my story and please review; constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**Chapter 15:**

_-_ _I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection._

_\- Sigmund Freud_

"Well, well, well…," Müller said as he collected himself, still pointing his gun at Reid. "If it isn't Dr. Spencer Reid. Who knew we would actually meet for the first time?"

Reid glared at Müller like the filthy monster he is and will forever be. "Unfortunately for you and fortunately for me, it'll be our only meet."

Chuckling, "I guess it is, no?"

"Where's my daughter, Müller?"

"Your daughter," Müller said, trying not to laugh. "_Your_ daughter? _Your_…daughter? See, that's where you're wrong, Doctor. Madison Jean…she's my daughter. She has half of my genetics, which makes me _her_ real father, not you; you're just the simple bastard who took from me when you adopted her."

"Is this coming from the same simple bastard who killed her entire family—including three of his children—in gruesome ways?"

Before Müller or Reid can say anything or get into a heated argument, a quiet yet timid voice can out of nowhere,

"What's going on here?"

As they both kept their guns aimed at each other, Müller turns around and Reid looked up, with worry in his eyes;

"Maddie."

* * *

Hotch shook his head, feeling mentally drained with his hand over his eyes, still trying about the conversation he had with Reid. Even though Rossi was driving, he asked him,

"You alright there, Hotch?"

"What do you think?" Hotch answered, rubbing his temples.

"You sure it isn't something else?"

"Yeah…I think I'm sure, Rossi." Hotch said, getting more annoyed.

"Hotch…"

"David," Hotch finally snaps at him, "Look. It's been a long past few days. I just want to find Maddie and Reid safe and take down Müller once and for all. Is that so much?! I mean, since when is that a problem, damn it?!" Trying a deep breath, "Just…keep on driving, alright? Before you hit something. Or someone."

Rossi opened his mouth to say something else, hoping to comfort Hotch, but he could tell from the tone of Hotch's voice that he was most definitely not in the mood for talking. He just decided not to and just continued focusing on his driving. He knew in his heart something was bothering him.

* * *

Reid started to get teary-eye when he first saw Maddie after her abduction. Her hair was a short wispy pixie cut, her clothes barley suited her and she looked skinner than usual. She had cuts and bruises, especially on her face, bit down on her lip and nails and she had her arms folded.

"Maddie…get out of here…please."

"What's going on…?"

"Maddie…please…" Reid slowly tries to walk towards Maddie, who was leisurely backing away while keeping his gun aimed at Müller. "Listen to me, okay? Listen to daddy…."

"No, Maddie." Müller shouted. "You listen to me. Listen to your real daddy."

"Maddie, no! Don't listen to him, okay. I'm your daddy."

"No, Maddie! Listen to me!"

"No! Listen to me, Maddie!"

"No, Maddie! Me!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"_Me_!"

"_ME!_"

"Daddy?"

"Yes?!" Reid and Müller simultaneously said before looking at each other.

Maddie looked absolutely confused as she kept on looking at Reid and Müller back and forth; like it was some kind of battle of wills.

"Well…I know the perfect situation on how we can deal with this…"

All of a sudden, Müller quickly turns around and tries to take a shot at Maddie—he missed—before Reid fires from his revolver, causing Maddie to scream and sprint out of the room.

"Maddie, hide somewhere!" Again, Müller fires his gun at Reid—even though he missed—before dashing out of the room.

"_Not my daughter, bastard!_" Reid said in his head, believing he's going to go after Maddie.

Just as Reid runs out of the kitchen and passed into the formal dining room, another gunfire shot came at him, but misses him again. "_Close one!_" He said to himself. Going into the grand foyer seeing Müller running up the double staircase, Reid fires two rounds from his revolver, but misses him,

"Come back here and face me like a man, you cowering piece of _SHIT!_" He shouted, causing an echo throughout the house.

"You're history, Dr. Reid! _HISTORY!_"

Cocking his revolver as he walked up the staircase, he could feel his adrenaline flying into an impossible level passed overdrive. He could see and saw the amount of dust on the paintings on the wall and the priceless antiques. This house had been abandoned for a long time. He could sense Müller was close by. He could also sense that Maddie was hiding somewhere safe and hoped she stayed there until all of this was over.

_ BANG!_

Hearing a gun fire close by to him, fearing the worst, believing Maddie was in that room, he kicked the door, enters the room and almost pulled the trigger when he saw a figure by the curtain windows, but it was just nothing but a shadow in the empty room. Backing out of the door and back into the hall,

_ FWHAM!_

A punch glimpsed Reid's chin and another one to his face. It was quite a couple of punches, but it didn't knock him down or made him feel some kind of uneasiness; he'd been hit in the face a few times. While he did drop his gun, landing in the room he was previously in, he stood against Müller: his eyes expanding with a mixture of temper and unstable, his clothes hanging off him, his hair unruly. He had Reid right where he wanted him.

"Come on, Dr. Reid," Müller said, in a fighting stance. "Show me what you got."

"_Okay, I will._" Reid thought.

Hopefully, the fighting moves Morgan taught him in those FBI self-defense classes would give him an edge against Müller.

In return, he gives him two hits to the sides of his face and a hit to the stomach. Müller ducked as Reid tried to take another wing at him. He brought a powerful blow into Müller's nose and a crunch noise filled the blood scented air. As Müller noticed his nose was bleeding, he kicks Reid in the chest—falling on the mahogany floor, knocking on a side table and breaking a white porcelain vase with flowers.

"Hey!" Müller yelled. "That was my mother's, you idiot!"

"Wow, Müller," Reid sarcastically said as he picked himself up. "Did you think about her, your father or your wife's parents before, during or after you gunned them down like a vicious poacher?"

Clenching his jawline and fists, he charges himself at Reid, but before he could try and tackle him, Reid managed to elbow him and take a forearm strike to his chin. As Reid tries to grapple him, Müller grabs him by his shirt, throwing Reid against the wall and socks him in the stomach and face. Reid tripped, clutching onto the railing for support.

Müller lets out a violent grunt, shoving Reid down with the all of his force. Falling backwards, he tumbles down hard on the stairs, falling into a hemp at the bottom of the staircase. An enormous amount of ache went through him, starting to feel weak and sluggish from the fall and hit to his stomach. He had to get up. He just had to, but just couldn't. Suddenly, he starts to hear Müller in a tranquil tone of voice.

"Is that the best you can do, Dr. Reid? I thought FBI agents were supposed to have skilled fight moves, not piss-poor ones. Come to think of it, I never thought I would see this day would come. And to think, I was supposed to be executed today. Well…time's up. Nothing's going to stop me from getting Maddie back and having her again. _I_ deserve to be her father; not you. I can't live without her. And I wouldn't let Maddie live without _me_."

**Please review.**


	16. The End of

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone.**

**Here's the next chapter. After I finish this story, I plan on writing a one-shot prequel and sequel. I also want to thank you all very much for your reviews as well as your patience. I really do appreciate it and I do look forward to hearing from all of you.**

**This chapter has been re-updated.**

**Please, do enjoy my story and please review; constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**Chapter 16:**

_-_ _Any fool can be a Father, but it takes a real man to be a Daddy! _

– _Philip Whitmore_

A crack formed in Reid's head when Müller began taunting him. He had the damn nerve to tell him that _he_ deserves to be Maddie's father, not him. Looking back before all this happened, Reid was the one, if not the _only one_, who calmed Maddie down and was given temporary custody of her. He fed her food. He clothed her. He sheltered her. He tries his hardest to protect her.

He…had _always_ been there for her when she needed him, not Müller. Müller was the simple son-of-a-bitch who took the lives of the family. But what _really_ ticked him off was him saying he wouldn't Maddie live without him.

Finally reaching to the end of the steps, Müller snickers to himself. When he gets in front of him, he bends over,

"Come on, Doctor. It's time for you to realize that you underestimated. I don't make mistakes…"

Müller could suddenly feel Reid's fingers twist around his neck, pressing and closing. The pain and the swelling feeling to Reid's legs after the fall was suddenly gone. The skintight clutching at his throat parted him without any air. His eyes were broad with alarm and escaping his body were scruffy gasps as Reid continued to clutch. He releases his grip and Müller falls to the floor, starting to coughs viciously. As he tries to catch his breath, Reid pulls him off the floor by grabbing on his shirt, pushing him back up against the wall. Reid's eyes seared intensity at Müller's sleepy eyes.

"You just did…you just made the ultimate mistake with me…you made me _angry!_" Reid snarled before raising his fist.

* * *

After many hours of nonstop driving, the rest of the BAU team—along with a number of local police officers, rescue and SWAT team members—they finally reached to the old Müller family estate. As they got out of their vehicles, SWAT and rescue began setting up their weapons while Hotch signaled the local police to search out the rest of the land. Garcia did warn them that the land was about fifteen-to-twenty-five acres.

Hotch began to observe the grand estate from where he was standing outside. Waiting for the right time to move, he couldn't help but have this feeling. The house looked completely dark from the outside. Rossi soon noticed it.

"What? What's up with you?"

"I don't know. Something's just not right."

"I know what you mean," Prentiss and JJ joined in on their conversations. "You don't think that…"

"Look. If anything, the lights will flick on. Right?"

Distress came to the team's hearts and minds as soon as they heard a crashing sound coming from the inside. They all sprinted toward the front of the house, grabbing their guns out of their holsters. Hearing nothing but a deadly silence for a few moments, there were sounds from inside and they sounded almost like indistinct pounds. Fearing the worst, Morgan slammed down the front door with his foot followed the rest of the team.

"FBI!"

"FBI!"

They move quickly, carefully around the grand foyer when they heard more of the thud noises from the formal living room. Rushing into the living room, they saw someone tossing around someone else like a rag doll before repeatedly pounding on them. Morgan rapidly soon realized,

"Oh, god…! Reid! Reid!"

Morgan rushes over to Reid's side when he sees him with his fingers around Müller's neck. Hotch and Rossi helps Morgan while JJ and Emily grabbed a hold onto Reid's arms. Struggling to pull him off,

"Reid, man! Reid…!"

"Calm…down!"

"Get off him, Reid!"

"Reid! It's…over! He's gone! He's…GONE!"

Finally pulling Reid away from Müller, Reid began to start crying softly while hyperventilate and shaking. He took a good look at his bloody knuckles before taking a better look at what he did to Müller. Putting his hands to his face,

"I…I…I…"

Emily and JJ kneeled down and wrapped their arms around Reid, trying to consoling him. "Reid…"

"I...I just…I…"

"Reid…it's finally over. It's all over now. You and Maddie…"

_ Maddie!_

That reminded him. He pulls himself up from the floor and away from the team. He rushes out of the room, but not before almost tripping on himself when he ran into the furniture.

"Reid! REID!"

"Don't try and stop me! My daughter needs me!"

"Reid!"

* * *

As he ran up the stairs, he could feel an impulsive pain in his ankle, but he could honestly care less about himself. In fact, he didn't care if he had to tear apart or turn the entire estate upside down. He just wanted to see Maddie was safe and unharmed. Reid felt dizzy, slightly lightheaded and could feel his heart beating in a hasty beat. Rummaging around the seven rooms of the left wing of the second floor, he felt as if he wanted to collapse with all the energy he had left in his body.

Putting his hand to his heart as he hobbled into the right wing, his eyes began to solely focus on this creaked door he saw in the corner. Opening the door some more, he sees a flight of stairs leading up to another upstairs room.

With every step that he took, he could still feel his ankle in agony. Nevertheless, he finally made his way up into the attic. He couldn't understand why, but he began to hear this almost-silence noises nearby. Following the source of the sound, he ends up facing a large antique truck chest sitting by the attic window. With great caution, he quietly walks over to it—little by little—opens it and took an intense gasp.

Inside the truck chest was Maddie as she was lying on her back and with her fingers laced together. She even had a dark-colored hand-stitched knitted blanket over her body; possibly to keep her warm and clinging onto an antique porcelain doll. Reid could feel his legs collapsed to the ground as his eyes began to water. Getting a much closer look at her face, he could definitely see the bruises and cuts—including a wound on the base on her forehead. Leaning over her, Reid sees two of his tears ran off his nose and land on her cheek before crying even harder.

Maddie's eyes flapped when she began to feel something wet on her face. Slowly rising up as she rubbed her eyes with her hands, the vision from her sloe eyes began to brutally haze. "Dad-daddy?"

"Yes, Maddie?" Reid could hear the cracks and gulps of air in his voice.

Maddie could feel her body fall against Reid's chest, catching her in his arms. "Don't _ever_ leave me…" She rasped. "Please…daddy..."

"Never." Reid began to let out a hearty sob as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her ever so tightly in his arms, rubbing soothing circles on her back. Maddie cried into his chest as he kisses the top of her head. "I will _never_ _ever_ leave you or let you go. I love you too much to leave you."

"Sir," Reid looks up and sees one of the medics walking over. "You need to get you two to the hospital right away. We've already secured the rest of the estate."

Reid looked down at Maddie, who was already fast asleep and holding onto him. "Yeah. Yeah, I think that's a good idea."

* * *

While Morgan, Prentiss and JJ looked around the rest of the formal living room, Hotch and Rossi watches Müller's bloody and brutally battered body being lifted from the corner and zipped into a body bag.

Just looking around the living room, it just had to be one of the deadliest and bloodiest scenes they've ever encountered to date. Blood was splatted on the wall—from the hardwood floors to the fireplace—and blood was also splatted on the dark-wood bookcases and furniture. The glass on the bookcases were shattered, as well as some of the antique items that was on the floor. But what really got to them was the amount of blood clotting on the corners of the wall. Morgan walked over to them, watching the medics take Müller's body away,

"You want me to tell you what I think happened or do you just want to…"

Hotch shook his head, "I just…I can't believe…"

"I know."

Prentiss and JJ joined in, having bags of a bunch of videos in their hands. "We're going to…take these for evidence. You know…just in case…"

Overhearing footsteps, they see a number of medics coming downstairs; not to long before they see Reid, holding Maddie wrapped in the blanket, in his arms. The team stares speechlessly at Reid as he stared long and hard at them before walking out.

"This just seems unreal, you guys," Prentiss said with a look on her face. "Reid _actually_..."

"I know, Prentiss. And I think I know why."

* * *

As soon as Reid steps outside, he looks down at Maddie, who was still asleep before looking up at the night sky. The sky almost looked like the Starry Night painting by Vincent van Gogh. It was bright, clear, clouds passing the white, shining full moon and the vivid stars in the sky. Before walking into the ambulance, he looks up to the stars twinkling and said,

"You can all rest in peace now."

**Please review.**


	17. Defense

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone.**

**Here's the next chapter. I'm glad that you enjoyed the fact that Reid beat Müller to death and how the team are surprised that he did that. I also want to thank you all very much for your reviews as well as your patience. I really do appreciate it and I do look forward to hearing from all of you. **

**This chapter has been re-updated.**

**Please, do enjoy my story and please review; constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**Chapter 17:**

_-_ _Self-defense is Nature's eldest law. _

– _John Dryden_

The entire team waiting outside both Maddie and Reid's hospitals rooms. Rossi began closing his eyes from the exhaustion for the past two-to-three days; the same thing was happening to Emily. Garcia had just arrived with Morgan, who was keeping her stable as they were walking into the waiting room. While JJ steps outside to take a phone call, Hotch stood between the two doors, waiting for the doctors to give the news on the youngest member and his daughter. Reid was still in surgery, but wondered about Maddie.

One of the doors opened and it was a female doctor in her mid-to-late twenties. "Madison Reid's family."

"You can speak freely with us. We work with her father."

"How is she?"

"She came out with small restraint marks on her wrists and shoulders, some minor bruises, scars and cuts, but she'll be alright. We also did a rape kit and…there were no signs of sexual abuse anywhere. No fluids, no tearings. No nothing."

Each and every one in the team took a huge sigh of relief, especially Morgan, when they heard Maddie wasn't sexually assaulted.

"Are you sure?" Morgan asked, leaving Garcia's side.

"Ran the kit twice and double-checked it twice. The bruises, scars and cuts will heal in time and we recommend keeping her here for the night for observation."

"Hey," JJ walks into the waiting room, noticing everyone looked as if weights were lifted off their shoulders. "So…Will and Henry are on their way. What's the news?"

"Despite minor abuse and injuries, Maddie's going to be fine. And…there was no signs of sexual trauma."

Putting her hand on her heart. "Amen."

"We can go see her?"

"Of course, but try not to stress her too much."

* * *

While Hotch went outside to take a call, Rossi checking the status on Reid and Morgan needed time to collect his thoughts, JJ and Emily went in to check on Maddie. They kept stoic, but warm expressions on their faces.

They all just couldn't believe that Maddie was in this condition. They could see the minor cuts she had on her lip, some small bruises, especially the wound on the base of her forehead, which was covered by a big bandage.

"Hey, Maddie," JJ quickly approached to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Confused. Emotionally and physically. Where's daddy?"

"He got hurt, but he's going to be alright."

"Oh, that's good. Uh…I know what happened. Between him and…"

JJ and Emily looked at each other before looking at Maddie again. "You do?"

"Yeah."

Before anyone can say anything else,

"Hey everybody!"

A young man with short blond hair, dressed in a simple grey hoodie, jeans and sneakers, carrying a big bouquet of colorful flowers. A younger child—which looked a bit older than Maddie—was dressed in a blue T-shirt, jeans and sneakers.

"Henry! Michael!"

"Mom!"

Henry walks up to his mother and gives her a hearty hug before turning over to, "Ms. Prentiss! Little Maddie!"

"Hey, Harry! Mikey!"

"Henry! Michael! Are you growing?"

Shrugging his shoulders, "You can say that. Mom, dad had to drop me off; he was called in last-minute at work. Tells you to give his 'Get wells' to Maddie and Reid," Whispering in JJ's ear, "Meanwhile, did Uncle Spencer really…?"

Folding her arms, "Yeah. He did."

"Dang! Where he is? How's he doing? Is he out of surgery?"

"Not yet, but he should be fine. That's what the doctors said."

"That's good to hear, but I just can't believe that he…"

Henry was interrupted when,

"Hello, my favorite people in the world!" Garcia walks into the room with a bunch of vibrant bags hanging from her arms. "Henry! Michael!"

"Aunt Penny!" He gives her a warm hug and smiled.

"My, are you two getting tall and big. Oh, Maddie!" Garcia walks up to Maddie's bedside and pats on her head. "How are you, little angel?"

"I'll be fine. How's daddy?"

Climbing on the bed after setting her gifts down by her bedside, Garcia brought Maddie into her arms, "Your daddy is going to be just fine. He's one of the strongest, if not _the_ strongest, people ever. He will _never_ leave you."

Prentiss, JJ, Henry and Michael join in. "And we're not going to leave you, either."

* * *

Rossi came up to Morgan to find him standing outside between Maddie's and Reid's hospital rooms, with his hands in his pocket.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Reid's still in surgery. How's Maddie?"

"She seems okay."

"You seems relieved when you heard the doctor say that Maddie wasn't sexually assaulted in any way. I even saw you shaking."

"Wouldn't you?"

"Is that what was bothering you?"

Morgan took a deep breath as he had his back against the wall and crossed his arms. "When I was ten…I saw my father die; I was with him when he was trying to stop a robbery. Maddie's only five and she saw _two_ people die; one of them was a teenage kid. I guess…one of the reasons I'm protective of Maddie is not just because of Müller and what happened to me when I was a kid, but because of…what almost happened."

"To who?"

"Maddie. When she was three years old, Reid told her he was going to take her to the park, but he wasn't feeling too well, so I told him I'd take her. So, when she was playing with the other kids, I just took my eyes off her for a second; just for a second and the next thing I know, she was out of my sight," Morgan could feel himself trembling.

"Then all of a sudden, I hear a whistle go off. Rossi, I saw Maddie running away from this tall guy from the bushes. When I went after him, the local police officers who were there arrested him and when I found Maddie, her arm was broken from trembling down a hill. It turns out that the guy who went up to her was a sex offender on probation. Do I need to tell you what he did? Luckily, that bastard didn't do anything to Maddie."

"You gave Maddie that whistle, didn't you?"

"Yes," Morgan said shakily. "Just to think; if I didn't...I…I don't…"

Putting his hand on his shoulder, "It's good to be protective of the people you care about. But there comes a day when you have to realize that you can't protect them forever. And you don't have to. Maddie will know right from wrong because of us and sooner or later, she'll be able to defend herself from anything and anybody that comes in her way."

"True." He gives Rossi a tiny smile before going into Maddie's room to be with her. Still thinking about Rossi's words, Maddie will have to defend herself someday, but at the same time, he—along with the team—will always be there for her. That's what Maddie's family would want for her.

**Please review.**** P.S.: After I finish this story, I plan on writing a one-shot prequel and sequel; so you'll have to give me some time.**


	18. Doing what you have to do

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone.**

**Here's the next and final chapter. I think you're going to enjoy what happens in the end.**

**I also want to thank you all very much for your reviews as well as your patience. I really do appreciate it and I do look forward to hearing from all of you. **

**This chapter has been re-updated.**

**Please, do enjoy my story and please review; constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**Chapter 18:**

_-_ _No word makes me happier than the word "daddy" when it's directed to me. _

– _Michael Josephson_

Reid couldn't help but to feel this tickle. As he gently flaps his eyes open, he finds himself in a hospital room with light-colored walls, gleaming flooring and the windows being covered by the white blinds. For some reason, he couldn't remember why he was even here in the first place; sure he had a nasal cannula in his nostrils, but just can't remember why. But as he looked down, a sense of relief came through to him when he saw Maddie sleeping on his shoulder.

Tears started to pour out from his eyes. Now he finally remembered why he was in this bed, but at the same time, he didn't care. He did what he had to do. Just to know that she was safe and with him, that was all he cared about. He looked up at the door to see Garcia silently crept the door open.

"Hey, buddy. Would you like some company?"

"Of course."

He starts to see the entire team coming into the room, including his godson, Henry. He puts his finger to his mouth, gesturing the team to talk softy.

"Hey there, boy genius."

"Hey. How's my little Maddie? I could care less about me to be honest with you."

"She's fine, despite minor abuse, but the good news is there were no signs of sexual trauma. The doctors already released her, but she wants to see with you awake. You—on the other hand—got a multitude of abrasions. You got three fractured ribs, your left shoulder, four of your fingers and one of your knuckles dislocated, along with some bruises and cuts. You also had internal bleeding and the doctors had to take you to surgery for your ankle." Morgan points to the cast on his leg.

"Uncle Spencer! How are you feeling?"

"Henry! Michael! And I'm fine, thanks. Are you growing?"

"You can say that. So…is it true that you…?"

"Yes. Yes, I beat Müller to death. And I did it with my bare hands. Go on; say what you guys have to say."

"Well, the one thing I have to say is…awe-some!"

"Ow!" Henry accidently hits Reid's casted foot.

"Oh, sorry."

While looking slightly annoyed at Henry, he soon focuses his eyes on Maddie, who was still sleeping. Caring less about the pain he was in, he reached up and stroked her hair.

"Look. I know most of you don't approve of the way I handled things with Müller…"

"Well I most certainly do."

"Ahh!" Henry hits his injured ankle again. "Henry!"

"Sorry about that…again."

"Uh-huh. But when he said he wasn't going to let Maddie live with him if I was in her life, I…I-I just…"

"You did what you had to do." Rossi finished the sentence.

"Exactly."

"Spence, I would have done the same thing if it either was Henry or Michael."

"You go, girl!" Henry said, causing JJ to look at her son intensely. "I mean…that's right, mom…ma'am. I mean…I love you, mommy." He puts his arm on her and kisses her on the cheek.

"Some here, mommy."

The room fell into an awkward silence for a few seconds.

"Anyway. Uh…may I speak to Reid alone for a few minutes?"

Rossi spoke up before anyone else could. "Of course. Finally, we can get some real sleep and real food to eat, Maddie and Reid are safe, the jag-off is dead."

"We can even go visit the gift shop…again!" Garcia said as she and JJ grabs their bags. "Come on."

"Mr. Hotchner, sir, you are always more than welcome to have a few words with my godfather, the hero of the hour: Dr. Spencer Reid here."

"Ehhh!" Henry hits his foot again, which was the final straw for him. "Okay, the next person who hits my foot is gonna get it from me!"

"Mm-hmm, that's right!"

"Uhh!" Michael accidently hits his foot. "Alright, that's it. Come over here, you…"

Luckily, the rest of the team managed to pull Henry and Michael out of the room before Reid could charge at them, despite being in so much agony from his injuries. "We'll be back."

"Take your time."

Hotch looked over him as he sat in his bed with Maddie sleeping so serenely. Still having his hands in his pocket,

"One of the things I have to say is…"

"…Just what in the hell where you thinking going after Müller like that?" Reid finishes Hotch's sentence. "I know, Hotch. Did you honestly think I wanted to do that? Even after what he did to her family? Hotch, he said he didn't want Maddie to live without him. Did you think I was going to just sit there like some kind of damned duck and not do anything to prevent that from happen? When I said I will protect Maddie until the very end, you better _bet_ I will protect Maddie until the very end. It's my job to do that."

"Well I was going to say that and…I'm actually quite proud of you."

"You are?"

Putting his hand on his shoulder. "Yeah. When Foyet went after my family and…just killed Haley, I…I-I-I felt that was the end of me. But when he threatened to kill me…and Jack…I did what I had to do."

"I guess you can say I took a page out of your book."

Hotch gave himself a very rare occasional chuckle. "Yeah, you did, huh? Just remember it's my job to look after you all; not just outside of work. Why don't you…take some time off? Maybe a couple of weeks; a month or two?"

"Hotch…"

"Seriously, Reid. You and Maddie need it. Please…"

"Alright. But what about…?"

"Don't worry about that right now. I just hope Cruz and everyone else will understand. Just focus on yourself and Maddie."

"Thank you, Hotch. That's why I can always count on you and everybody else."

Before he could leave the room to join the rest of the team and gave himself and Maddie some time to rest, "Oh and Reid? Was it worth it?"

Looking at his knuckles, "Absolutely."

* * *

**Minutes to midnight**

Reid could this sudden urge to try and open his eyes, but the best he could do at the moment was to flicker them. He looks down to see his Maddie sleeping next to him before turning his head around. All he could see was a glowing woman standing over him in a cloud of fog. She had radiant skin, piercing eyes, dressed in the whitest and finest-looking garments. He immediately realizes her.

She was Maddie's birth mother, Caroline.

She takes both of Reid's hands before giving him a wobbly yet glowing smile. She said in a tranquil tone with tears falling from her eyes,

"Thank you."

Reid inhaled as he woke up from his deep slumber. As he slowly began to be more aware of his real surroundings, he started to ask himself if he really...he shook his head to erase those thoughts. Maybe it was from the medication he was given. Maybe it was something else. He didn't know what it was, but he couldn't help but think that he actually…

His train of thought stopped when he started to notice Maddie trying to wake up.

"Daddy?" She muttered. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

Holding her close, "Don't worry, Maddie. Daddy's okay and alive. Daddy will always be okay and I'll never leave you. Never."

"You're my real daddy and I'll always love you." Maddie beams before wrapping her arms around him and kissed his cheek.

"Well, no matter what, you'll always be my daughter. I'll always love you, too."

** Please review.**

** P.S.: Now that this story is finished, I plan on writing a one-shot prequel and sequel; so you'll have to give me some time.**


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